Re: How well-maintained are NEWS and changelog files in deb packages?
On Fri, 13 Feb 2015, Martin T wrote:
> apt-listchanges uses NEWS and changelog files in Debian packages. Are
> NEWS and changelog files always or at list usually updated, i.e. is it
> safe to trust those?
changelog.Debian.gz files are updated on every new version which is
present in Debian, however, they are primarily used for reporting
changes in Debian packaging, and only occasionally report changes by
upstream.
Upstream changelog files (usually /usr/share/doc/foopkg/changelog.gz or
similar) are copied straight from upstream, and may be up to date or not
depending on upstream's policies.
NEWS.Debian.gz files are only updated when there is something
significant to report; it's perfectly normal for these not to be updated
for months or years (or not be present at all).
--
Don Armstrong http://www.donarmstrong.com
I shall require that [a scientific system's] logical form shall be
such that it can be singled out, by means of empirical tests, in a
negative sense: it must be possible for an empirical scientific system
to be refuted by experience.
-- Sir Karl Popper _Logic of Scientific Discovery_ §6
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