[debhelper-devel] [dpkg+debhelper] On declarative packaging and dpkg metadata

[Niels Thykier]

On 2015-08-23 15:30, Niels Thykier wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Guillem and I had a chat at DebConf about making packaging more
> declarative and dpkg metadata - these are the notes, I wrote down.
> 
>  [...]
> 
> [1] Format we discussed was based on the update-alternatives --query
> format.  It is a Deb822 file with 1 or more paragraphs (one per provided
> alternative).  An example could be:
> 
> Name: editor
> Link: /usr/bin/editor
> Alternative: /usr/bin/vim.basic
> Slaves:
>   editor.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1/editor.1.gz
>   [...]
> Priority: 60
> 
> With "Slaves" being an optional field.  If a package provides multiple
> alternatives for the same link, there will be a minor duplication (Link
> and Name being repeated), but we deemed it to be an unlikely case.
> 
> 

Ok, I have looked at this format again, and it seems we have overlooked
something.  The --slave argument for update-alternatives expects 3
arguments, but the format only lists two per "slave"-link.

For simplicity I am proposing that we change the Slaves field to contain
3 values per line (in order):

 * link
 * name
 * path

That way the order is consistent with the --slave argument.

Thanks,
~Niels





-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 819 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/debhelper-devel/attachments/20150823/f90e2b48/attachment.sig>