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Package: wnpp
Severity: normal
The default (and possibly the only) Ada compiler in Lenny will be gnat-4.3 which
was released in February 2008. However, since the release, GCC 4.4 is in stage
1 and has already received several bug fixes. Some of the bugs fixed are
present in gnat-4.3, so it would be nice to backport the fixes. Unfortunately,
the rules governing GCC release branches only allow *regressions* (not regular
bugs) to be fixed upstream. Therefore, if we want to backport bug fixes into
gnat-4.3, we must do so by means of Debian-specific patches.
I need help to do just that.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to:
- scan the Debian BTS for bugs marked [Fixed in 4.4] (look at packages gnat-4.1
and gnat-4.3; see also #475369).
- if the bug has a patch in the upstream Bugzilla, backport it to gnat-4.3.
- Create a new file, debian/patches/pr*.dpatch in the Debian packaging scripts.
- Add an entry to debian/rules.patch so the patch is applied.
More details are in debian/README.maintainers in the GCC scripts.
Of course, backporting new functionality is not on the agenda because it might
introduce new bugs.
The most efficient way to commit these changes is by means of the monotone
database I use to maintain the scripts. See
http://www.ada-france.org/article131.html for information. You can also see
the database at http://www.ada-france.org:8081.
The second most efficient way is to commit the changes into the Debian GCC
Maintainers' Subversion repository at svn.debian.org/svn/gcccvs, but this is
open only to Debian Developers.
The least efficient way is to attach patches to the bugs in the Debian BTS.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any additional information, and
thanks for any help you can provide.
--
Ludovic Brenta.
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