Source: debian-policy Source-Version: 4.7.2.0 Severity: wishlist Tags: patch
Hi! I've just pushed a change into dpkg's git targeting 1.23.0, removing support for the MSDOS-Filename field. This has been widely obsolete for a long time, and it has not been supported by pretty much anything except some decaying support in dpkg. The only current references to this field in codesearch.d.n, are in apt (only for ordering purposes, no parsing or generation), lintian (only in a data reference to the Debian Policy section name), dpkg (which has now been removed), and debian-policy (the object of this report :). From the attached patch against debian-policy git HEAD: ,--- policy: Remove reference to MSDOS-Filename This a relic from the past, where distributions had to possibly support installation from MS-DOS systems, or transport binary packages in FAT formatted media. This has not been the case for a very long time. And front-ends like apt do not even support handling MSDOS-Filename in repositories, and VFAT support is wide-spread nowadays. Support for this field is going to be removed from dpkg 1.23.0. Ref: https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git/commit/?id=4610332047d2609fc26146024227f4a51de9d8f5 `--- Thanks, Guillem
From ad5d023298f3de8a04b558363130e8f2ab9cc604 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Guillem Jover <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:08:01 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] policy: Remove reference to MSDOS-Filename This a relic from the past, where distributions had to possibly support installation from MS-DOS systems, or transport binary packages in FAT formatted media. This has not been the case for a very long time. And front-ends like apt do not even support handling MSDOS-Filename in repositories, and VFAT support is wide-spread nowadays. Support for this field is going to be removed from dpkg 1.23.0. Ref: https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git/commit/?id=4610332047d2609fc26146024227f4a51de9d8f5 --- policy/ap-pkg-controlfields.rst | 4 ++-- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/policy/ap-pkg-controlfields.rst b/policy/ap-pkg-controlfields.rst index d3b43b3..71a3d16 100644 --- a/policy/ap-pkg-controlfields.rst +++ b/policy/ap-pkg-controlfields.rst @@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ Policy manual. .. _s-pkg-f-Filename: -``Filename`` and ``MSDOS-Filename`` +``Filename`` ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -These fields in ``Packages`` files give the filename(s) of (the parts +This field in ``Packages`` files give the filename(s) of (the parts of) a package in the distribution directories, relative to the root of the Debian hierarchy. If the package has been split into several parts the parts are all listed in order, separated by spaces. -- 2.51.0
