name transition of an application implemented in Ruby

[Norwid Behrnd <nbehrnd@yahoo.com>]

Dear subscribers,

I seek assistance to rename an application in Ruby, especially the sequence to
file a RFS.

Just prior to the freeze of Debian bookworm, I packaged `ruby-mdl` from
rubygems with `gem2deb`.  Though it was accepted, Daniel Leidert and one
sponsor of the package recommended to to consider a different name of the
package because it isn't a library, but an application; a task better
postponed for the time after the release of `bookworm`.

There are two questions building on top of each other:

+ Because a new version 0.13.0 was released on rubygems, I started to prepare a
  new package for Debian[1] and equally wish to improve this detail now.  Based
  on repology.org,[2] plain `mdl` seems to be a name suitable.  Reading about
  the documented «Transition package method»,[3] I would have to replace the
  currently used file `/debian/control` (copied below) by a new one (copied
  below) for one RFS, commit the changes to salsa, build, sign, dput as usual.
  Once this hurdle is taken, I would file a subsequent separate RFS for a dummy
  package.  Any objections for this part?

+ Second, I found `equivs` described elsewhere[4] to prepare a dummy package
  and I am able to replicate their example with their control file (`equivs`
  version 2.3.1).  However, a copy my dummy control file as a plain file in a
  separate empty folder only yields

  ```shell
$ equivs-build ./control 
syntax error in control file: This is a transitional package. It can safely be
  removed. ```

  To me, `Depends: mdl, ${misc:Depends}` reads like I should thus i) await
  a successful RFS of `ruby-mdl` 0.13.0 as `mdl` to then ii) copy my control
  file as `/debian/control` into the folder which was used to prepare the
  package `mdl`.  Really this simple (no commit to salsa.debian.org, but sign
  and dput to mentors.debian.net as usual)?


With regards,

Norwid Behrnd

[1] https://mentors.debian.net/package/ruby-mdl/
[2] https://repology.org/project/mdl-markdownlint/packages
[3] https://wiki.debian.org/RenamingPackages
[4] https://wiki.debian.org/Packaging/HackingDependencies

+ `/debian/control` as used so far:

```
Source: ruby-mdl
Section: text
Priority: optional
Maintainer: Norwid Behrnd <nbehrnd@protonmail.com>
Build-Depends: debhelper-compat (= 13),
               gem2deb (>= 1),
               ruby (>= 2.7),
               ruby-kramdown (>= 2.3),
               ruby-kramdown-parser-gfm (>= 1.1),
               ruby-mixlib-cli (<< 2.2),
               ruby-mixlib-cli (>= 2.1.1),
               ruby-mixlib-config (<< 4),
               ruby-mixlib-config (>= 2.2.1),
               ruby-mixlib-shellout
Standards-Version: 4.6.2
Vcs-Git: https://salsa.debian.org/nbehrnd/ruby-mdl/ruby-mdl.git
Vcs-Browser: https://salsa.debian.org/nbehrnd/ruby-mdl
Homepage: https://github.com/markdownlint/markdownlint
Testsuite: autopkgtest-pkg-ruby
Rules-Requires-Root: no

Package: ruby-mdl
Architecture: all
Depends: ${misc:Depends},
         ${ruby:Depends},
         ${shlibs:Depends}
Description: Markdown lint tool
 ruby-mdl checks an individual markdown file, or a directory of markdown
 files against a set of 42 rules for syntax consistency.  In its report back
 to the CLI, the Ruby based implementation reports the line(s) with an issue
 identified and how to improve it.
 ```

+ `/debian/control` which would be used to transition to a new name

```
Source: ruby-mdl
Section: text
Priority: optional
Maintainer: Norwid Behrnd <nbehrnd@protonmail.com>
Build-Depends: debhelper-compat (= 13),
               gem2deb (>= 1),
               ruby (>= 2.7),
               ruby-kramdown (>= 2.3),
               ruby-kramdown-parser-gfm (>= 1.1),
               ruby-mixlib-cli (<< 2.2),
               ruby-mixlib-cli (>= 2.1.1),
               ruby-mixlib-config (<< 4),
               ruby-mixlib-config (>= 2.2.1),
               ruby-mixlib-shellout
Standards-Version: 4.6.2
Vcs-Git: https://salsa.debian.org/nbehrnd/ruby-mdl/ruby-mdl.git
Vcs-Browser: https://salsa.debian.org/nbehrnd/ruby-mdl
Homepage: https://github.com/markdownlint/markdownlint
Testsuite: autopkgtest-pkg-ruby
Rules-Requires-Root: no

Package: mdl
Replaces: ruby-mdl (<< 0.12.0-3)
Breaks: ruby-mdl (<< 0.12.0-3)
Architecture: all
Depends: ${misc:Depends},
         ${ruby:Depends},
         ${shlibs:Depends}
Description: Markdown lint tool
 mdl checks an individual markdown file, or a directory of markdown
 files against a set of 42 rules for syntax consistency.  In its report back
 to the CLI, the Ruby based implementation reports the line(s) with an issue
 identified and how to improve it.
 ```
 
+ `debian/control` as so far understood to prepare the dummy package

```
Package: ruby-mdl
Depends: mdl, ${misc:Depends}
Architecture: all
Priority: optional
Section: oldlibs
Description: transitional package
This is a transitional package. It can safely be removed.
```

END