Re: Why Debian is dying (Was: Call for volunteers and GR draft: tag2upload key installation)

[Matthias Urlichs]

On 06.04.25 13:01, Simon Richter wrote:

I can explain the sequence

… which mayyybe you might look at from the perspective of somebody-new-interested-in-contributing-to-Debian.

1. use 'apt source x' to get the source package

Use dgit. You get a git repo along with it.

Or simply "git clone", for some dgit workflows anyway.

1.5 fork the upstream repo to your own workspace for later pushing, if you're not the maintainer

2. use 'apt build-dep x' to install the build dependencies locally

3. build the package with 'dpkg-buildpackage -b -us -uc' to see that it works

"dgit pbuilder/cowbuilder" makes #2 redundant; alternately, "dgit build" might be taught to emit the required apt-build-dep command so you don't need to learn about it up front. 3.9 open a bug report so you can close it in the changelog *and* in the git commit message.

4. use 'dch -i' to create a new changelog entry

probably no good way around that.

5. make local changes
6. rebuild the package, test if it works, if not go back to 5

That's the part that is not really Debian specific, so not much need to explain

7. use 'dpkg-source --commit' to create a patch file for changed upstream sources

8. use 'dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -S' to create a new source package
9. use 'debdiff old.dsc new.dsc' to create a diff
10. use 'reportbug' to submit a bug report, and attach the diff.

7. git commit






I fail to see how that would not be an improvement.

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-- Matthias Urlichs


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8. dgit push-source, or "git push" plus open a Pull Request if you're not the maintainer Bottom line, I replaced eight or nine (counting #3.9) Debian specific steps with three or four, assuming that we allow DDs to opt into using Salsa for their packages' bugs instead of insisting on using our by-now-woefully-arcane bug tracker. (Yes I know that this requires some additional tooling, but I'll assume that asking Salsa for the number of RC bugs in package X is not rocket science.) The rest, people already know how to do, and if they don't that knowledge isn't Debian specific so arguably much easier to motivate them to learn.

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