Package: debian-policy Version: 3.7.3.0 Severity: normal There is some lack of clarity in the policy or perhaps some confusion among packagers and thence inconsistencies among packages regarding the handling of upstream changelog files. Policy says that upstream changelogs should be installed as /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.gz. Many packages, however, come with two kinds of changelogs: a source-level list of changes directed at developers, often called ChangeLog in a GNU-type package, and a user-level list of changes, sometimes called release notes, often in a file called NEWS in a GNU-type package.
Debian packages appear to handle this in different ways: Some take the policy literally and install the ChangeLog as /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.gz and then install NEWS as additional documentation in /usr/share/doc/package/NEWS.gz or whatever the file is called in the particular case. Sometimes the source package doesn't come with a useful changelog, so they install NEWS or the release notes as /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.gz; others would then not install a "changelog" and install /usr/share/doc/package/NEWS.gz or some other name instead. This has two major problems: I think that installing a source-level change list is hardly ever useful for a binary package. Most users would probably rather read the release notes, but these are currently not be found at a uniform location. The intent behind all this was probably to give the package user a list of user-level changes. So in that sense most packages do a less than ideal job at the moment. I can think of three possibilities to address this: 1. Clarify the policy that a source-level changelog should be installed as /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.gz and user-level change lists/release notes should be installed as /usr/share/doc/package/NEWS.gz, whichever of these is available and deemed useful. This has the advantage that it is backward-compatible with respect to the changelog handling, and it would allow users to find the release notes under the familiar name "NEWS". It would also be somewhat consistent with the GNU names for these files and the handling of changelog.Debian vs. NEWS.Debian. 2. Modify policy to say that source-level changelogs should not be installed unless there is some overriding reason. Also say that user-level release notes should be installed as /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.gz. This has the advantage that the currently used name "changelog" is preserved, but the disadvantage would be that it would take on a new meaning for many packages. It would also create an inconsistent naming scheme compared to the handling of changelog.Debian vs. NEWS.Debian. 3. Modify policy to say that source-level changelogs should not be installed unless there is some overriding reason. If they are installed, they should be installed as /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.gz. Add to policy that user-level release notes should be installed as /usr/share/doc/package/NEWS.gz. This has the advantage that it would preserve the meaning of the "changelog" file for most packages, but most packages could opt to drop them since they are probably useless in most cases. It would also create a new uniform policy for installing upstream release notes, which are currently handled inconsistently, and it would use the familiar name "NEWS" for that file, consistent with GNU-type packages and the name NEWS.Debian. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
