[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Bug#920184: lintian: incorrectly parses an unfinalised changelog entry



Package: lintian
Version: 2.5.122
Severity: normal

Lintian has recently regressed from correct handling of unfinalised
changelog entries (treating them as an unfinalised release), and is
now instead giving erroneous tags to the changelog.

For example, a source package whose latest changelog entry is:

=====
ipsum (3.4.5-2) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium

  * Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
  * Cras in sem consequat, consectetur ligula ac, volutpat nulla.

 --
=====

This is a valid changelog entry, unfinalised (so there is no correct
"person who prepared this release of the package") during development
and prior to release.

In earlier Lintian versions (e.g. 2.5.94) an unfinalised changelog
entry would be handled correctly: no maintainer and no release timestamp.

The current Lintian triggers many incorrect tags for this, including:

* changelog-should-mention-nmu
* source-nmu-has-incorrect-version-number
* syntax-error-in-debian-changelog "badly formatted trailer line"
* syntax-error-in-debian-changelog "found start of entry where expected more change data or trailer"

These tags are noise when attempting to test a still-in-development
package.

(Could this be related to the recent Lintian change “[…] now we are
trialling using gbp-dch”?)

Such an unfinalised changelog entry is valid when the package is not
released (as explicitly stated in the distribution name “UNRELEASED”).

Please restore the correct handling by Lintian of valid unfinalised
changelog entries, to allow a clean report during development of a
package release.

-- 
 \      “Software patents provide one more means of controlling access |
  `\      to information. They are the tool of choice for the internet |
_o__)                                     highwayman.” —Anthony Taylor |
Ben Finney <bignose@debian.org>


Reply to: