> So finally I have located a package (xdir) that nobody is working on. I > want to build a test package and see if I am qualified enough to become a > official Debian developer. Here is what I do - > > 1. tar zxvf the package. > 2. cd directory_of_package > 3. deb-make > 4. cd debian > 5. rm *.ex
Well, yes except for .ex files that you want to use. > This is a x package for which I need to add a menu entry. Is it enough > if > I just edit the menu.ex file? Would dpkg automagically know how to add the > menu entry? No, but debstd would if you have a call to it in debian/rules. You also have to rename menu.ex to menu. Please note that debstd/debmake is pretty much deprecated. Use debhelper tools or do it all yourself, like the more brave of us do ;-). > > 6. build Well, not quite. You do need to edit the changelog file, the control file etc. > 7. dpkg --install fooBar.deb > > I think the best way for me to learn would probably be by extracting > everything from a similar .deb package. How do I extract the contents of a > .deb package? I am not talking about dpkg --exctract. Obviously the > creator of a package has to have some way to inform dpkg to add the menu > entry. You want to get the debian source package. Go to debian/hamm/hamm/source on your mirror, and get the orig.tar.gz, diff.gz and .dsc files for the package you want to take a look at. Then, extract it using 'dpkg-source -x <name of package>*dsc' > > Also, what is a good document to read to get started. I have already read > the Debian Developers Reference and the New Package Maintainer's Debian > Packaging HOWTO. Did you look through the Packaging manual? It might not make sense at first, but you do have to understand most of it in order to be proficient, IMO. -- Proudly running Debian Linux! Linux vs. Windows is a no-Win situation.... Igor Grobman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
