hi Holger, thanks for the quick feedback. new patch attached, which I believe addresses all comments.
thanks, serafi
From 912e78f245e6eecf68beb7903841a09aeefe9173 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Serafeim (Serafi) Zanikolas" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 12 May 2026 22:52:09 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] pkgs: add a section with a checklist for new upstream versions. Closes #301011. Based on suggestions from Brian Nelson <[email protected]>, edited for freshness and brevity. --- source/pkgs.rst | 41 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 41 insertions(+) diff --git a/source/pkgs.rst b/source/pkgs.rst index bd48444..676ff51 100644 --- a/source/pkgs.rst +++ b/source/pkgs.rst @@ -553,6 +553,47 @@ the section is main, it should be omitted. The list of allowable subsections can be found in https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-archive.html#s-subsections\ . +.. _new-upstream: + +New upstream versions +================================================================================================================================ + +To update a package for a new upstream release: + +1. Read the upstream changelog, NEWS, and whatever other documentation + they may have released with the new version. + +2. If possible, inspect the full diff between the old and new upstream sources, + potentially filtering out uninteresting parts using filterdiff (e.g. + ``filterdiff -x '*.po'``). If it's too big to review thoroughly, you can use + ``diffstat`` to get a feel for the scope and nature of the changes (and thus + where new bugs may appear), and to keep an eye for anything suspicious (e.g. + unexpected use of network or the apperance of dubious binary blobs). + +3. Port the old Debian packaging to the new version. This basically involves + incrementing the ``debian/changelog`` and merging ``debian/patches`` from the + old package to the new one. + +4. Check to see if any bugs have been fixed that are currently open in the BTS. + If they have been, close them in the ``debian/changelog``. + +5. If the patch/merge did not apply cleanly, figure out why. A patch may fail to + apply if it's already been applied in the new upstream release, or if the + upstream files the patch applies to have been substantially modified (or + deleted). + +6. If any changes were made to the build system (you'd know from steps 1 and 2), + update the ``debian/rules`` and ``debian/control`` build dependencies if + necessary. + +7. Build the new package in an isolated environment, e.g. using ``sbuild`` or + ``pbuilder``. This ensures that all required build dependencies are listed in + ``debian/control`` and eliminates the possibility of interference of any + third party packages in your system. + +8. Verify that the new package builds correctly and if so carry out the checks + in :ref:`_sanitycheck`. + .. _bug-handling: Handling bugs -- 2.47.3
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