Bug#540248: Suggested additions for "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" (courtesy of NM)
Package: developers-reference
Version: 3.4.1
Severity: wishlist
While recently going through the NM process I was presented with a
list of "Important Packages" which is quite similar to the "Overview
of Debian Maintainer Tools" in the Developer's Reference. But the list
from NM has a few additions which I recommend here.
[The text below comes exactly from a mail I received from Enrico Zini,
(and which I presume comes from an NM template). I am not in a
position to know who the original author might be.]
build-essential
A package that depends on all the packages in the build
essential list. It's useful to make sure everything in the list
is installed on the system when building and testing your own
packages.
debian-policy
Describes the policy relating to packages and details of
the packaging mechanism. Covers everything from
required gcc options to the way the maintainer scripts
(postinst etc.) work, package sections and priorities,
etc. An absolute must-read. Also useful is the file
/usr/share/doc/debian-policy/upgrading-checklist.txt.gz,
which lists changes between versions of policy.
You must read and understand it.
doc-debian Lots of useful Debian-specific documentation: the
constitution and DFSG, explanation of the Bug Tracking
System (BTS), etc.
maint-guide
The New Maintainer's Guide to making Debian packages.
developers-reference
Lots of information on procedures and suchlike.
(http://www.debian.org/doc/developers-reference/ is often
more up-to-date.)
reportbug Tool to report bugs.
piuparts Gives an easy way to test installing, upgrading, and
removing your package in a clean Debian system. Helps to
find leftovers due to broken maintainer scripts.
[Obviously you might want to consider rewording the description of
developers-reference.]
-Carl
-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
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