Noel David Torres Taño <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I'm the (new) maintainer of wmaker-data which is a package > containing files from several upstream sources. Some files have been > downloaded from one place, some from other place, etc. > > Which is the recommended practice here?
If the package could reasonably be useful outside the context of Debian, it should not be a Debian-native package. The Debian packaging, and the (possibly empty) set of changes to the upstream source, should be separated from the "pristine" upstream source. > I see the following options: > > A) - The package was put together specifically for Debian, so it > must be native No. See Developer's Reference §6.7.8.2, "Repackaged Upstream Source": You **should** upload packages with a pristine source tarball if possible, but there are various reasons why it might not be possible. This is the case if upstream does not distribute the source as gzipped tar at all, or if [non-free]. In these cases the developer must construct a suitable .orig.tar.gz file himself. We refer to such a tarball as a repackaged upstream source. Note that a repackaged upstream source is different from a Debian-native package. A repackaged source still comes with Debian-specific changes in a separate .diff.gz and still has a version number composed of <upstream-version> and <debian-revision>. > B) - The files are not for Debian or rather, they are meaningfully useful outside Debian. > so it must not be native and needs a orig.tar.gz Yes. > I feel that correct answer is B but here is where the real problem > arises for me. How to set up a orig.tar.gz file from several places? Construct a procedure to do so automatically, e.g. a command-line program. Set a target 'get-orig-source' in the 'debian/rules' file that invokes the program you just wrote. For an example that I recently had to do myself, see the 'lojban-common' package version 1.5-2. For another, see 'vim-scripts' version 20080705-1. -- \ Hercules Grytpype-Thynne: “Well, Neddie, I'm going to be | `\ frank.” Ned Seagoon: “Right, I'll be Tom.” Count Moriarty: | _o__) “I'll be Gladys.” *slap* —The Goon Show, _World War I_ | Ben Finney -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]