Le mardi 18 août 2026, 12:01:23 heure d’été d’Europe centrale Sean Whitton a écrit : > Bastien Roucaries [17/Aug 12:16pm +02] wrote: > > Package: debian-policy > > Version: 4.7.4.1 > > Severity: important > > > > Hi > > > > I will like for ease of reading to define a new section 2.6 architecture > > > > [proposal] > > > > Debian uses a dual‑level architecture system in its packaging: arch:all > > packages contain architecture‑independent content such as documentation, > > icons, > > scripts, or pure Python or Java code, and are built once for all > > architectures. > > > > This distinction allows Debian to efficiently manage multi‑architecture > > builds, > > minimize duplication, and ensure that architecture‑specific optimizations or > > constraints are respected during compilation and dependency resolution. > > > > In contrast, arch:any packages contain compiled binaries and must be built > > separately for each supported architecture (for instance amd64, arm64, > > riscv64, > > s390x). > > > > Each binary package produced from an arch:any source is tagged with its > > specific architecture, while arch:all produces a single binary package > > shared > > across the archive, for instance arch:amd64 or arch:S390x. > > > > Archive wise package are compiled for a baseline that is a specific ABI and > > ISA. > > We wouldn't add a new section like this because it'd cause renumbering. > Instead we'd want to append a new section 2.13 to the chapter.
Agreed > > I'm not sure about adding a new section that contains only informative > text. I think I'd like to see how this would be combined with some > text about relevant normative requirements that you think are currently > not documented. 1. arch:all and arch:any are not defined anywhere in policy to my best knowledge 2. adding informative section improve the whole reading [improved proposal] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian uses a dual‑level architecture system in its packaging: arch:all packages contain architecture‑independent content such as documentation, icons, scripts, or pure Python or Java code, and are built once for all architectures. This distinction allows Debian to efficiently manage multi‑architecture builds, minimize duplication, and ensure that architecture‑specific optimizations or constraints are respected during compilation and dependency resolution. In contrast, arch:any packages contain compiled binaries and must be built separately for each supported architecture (for instance amd64, arm64, riscv64, s390x). Each binary package produced from an arch:any source is tagged with its specific architecture, while arch:all produces a single binary package shared across the archive, for instance arch:amd64 or arch:S390x. Archive wise package are compiled for a baseline that is a specific ABI and ISA. Multi‑Arch in Debian is the mechanism that allows a single system to install and use packages from multiple architectures at the same time. It extends the architecture context so that libraries, headers, and binaries from foreign architectures (like i386 on an amd64 machine) can coexist cleanly without file conflict. Individual packages declare their support for this feature, and influences the way dependencies are handled. More information could be found in section 5.6.34 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- rouca >
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