Re: Package release number.
Hi Peter,
On Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 08:16:22AM -0700, peter@easthope.ca wrote:
> peter@joule:/home/peter$ dpkg -l | grep qemu-system-x86
> ii qemu-system-x86 1:3.1+dfsg-8+deb10u8
> i386 QEMU full system emulation binaries (x86)
>
> How is the "version number" interpreted?
It's ony important within Debian so aside from some conventions it
does *have* to correspond to anything.
> "1:" ?
This is referred to within Debian and derivatives as "an epoch". It
is typically used when the format of the rest of the version needs
to change in ways that would not otherwise guarantee that subsequent
versions are considered newer than previous versions.
Something with an epoch of 1: will be considered newer than
something without an epoch, and if an epoch happened again then it
would be 2: and that would be newer than anything that starts with
no epoch or with 1: as an epoch.
> "3.1" qemu release number?
Yes, it is desirable to match the Debian package version with the
upstream version that it's based upon. Sometimes this is done
incorrectly and it has to be fixed and then a typical convention is
to use another suffix of "-reallyx.y.z".
> "dfsg-8" ?
A convention indicating that the package includes some number of
Debian-specific changes to make the package comply with Debian Free
Software Guidelines. For example, some documentation contains
invariant sections that no one has permission to change and those
don't fit what Debian considers to be "free", so they can get
stripped out.
https://wiki.debian.org/GFDLPositionStatement
> "deb10u8" Debian 10, update 8?
Yes, a convention saying that the basis for this package is the
version that first appeared in release 10 and this is the 8th update
to it since then.
> Additional ideas?
There are a lot of other conventions in use (the "-really" one being
one example) and I'm not sure if they are all listed out somewhere.
> I checked /https://www.debian.org/distrib/packages for an explanation.
> Nothing relevant.
If anywhere, I would expect it to be in documentation aimed at
Debian developers and contributors.
Cheers,
Andy
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