[debhelper-devel] Bug#864703: dh_makeshlibs should handle -a like dpkg-gensymbols does

[Helmut Grohne]

Package: debhelper
Version: 10.2.5
Severity: wishlist
File: /usr/bin/dh_makeshlibs

dpkg-gensymbols handles an option -a$arch such that "dpkg-architecture
-a$arch -c dpkg-gensymbols ..." is equivalent to "dpkg-gensymbols
-a$arch ...". Practically, the primary mean to call dpkg-gensymbols is
through dh_makeshlibs. Passing the -a flag through dh_makeshlibs (after
--) is a bad idea though, because dh_makeshlibs uses the host
architecture on its own. This situation looks a little weired to me, but
not too much. I basically see three options now:

a) Have dh_makeshlibs gain a new option -a that behaves like the one
   from dpkg-gensymbols and passes it down.
b) Have dpkg-gensymbols deprecate -a and recommend using the
   dpkg-architecture indirection. (reassign -1 dpkg-dev)
c) Ignore the small inconsistency and close this bug as wontfix.

I hope this bug is worth reporting it.

Helmut