Bug#831521: uscan: Implement new 'nomktar' option on watch file

[Sergio Durigan Junior]

Package: devscripts
Tags: patch

Hi,

Rationale: <https://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/2016/07/msg00389.html>

Some Debian maintainers have to deal with upstream projects that do not
offer tarballs for releases.  The modus operandi for working around this
"issue" is to provide your own replacement for the 'uupdate' script,
which should be responsible for manipulating the file(s) downloaded from
upstream and prepare a "fake" tarball to be provided to 'uupdate'.

This works, but has one drawback: there is no "easy" way to suppress the
'mk-origtargz' program to run.  And the problem with this is that
'mk-origtargz' expects a compressed tarball as its input, always.
Calling it in the situation described above leads to an error.  So, the
user is left with some non-ideal options:

1) Invoke 'uscan' passing '--no-symlink' as one of the parameters.  This
has the side-effect of skipping the call to 'mk-origtargz'.  The obvious
disadvantages are: (a) it is not obvious to the user that this option
solves the problem described above, and (b) the user will have to
remember to pass this option every time.

2) Hacking the 'uupdate'-replacement script in order to invoke it by
hand.  The obvious disadvantage is that the user won't be able to use
'uscan', and also will have to remember this every time.

Therefore, to fix this issue, I am proposing a new option, to be
provided via 'opts=' in the watch file, whose purpose is to suppress the
execution of 'mk-origtargz'.  Its effect will be similar to passing
'--no-symlink', although the user will still be able to provide
'--rename', for example.

Opinions?

Cheers,

-- 
Sergio
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Please send encrypted e-mail if possible
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