r6577 - /website/subversion.pod

Mon Aug 13 19:38:53 UTC 2007

Author: dmn
Date: Mon Aug 13 19:38:53 2007
New Revision: 6577

URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/?sc=1&rev=6577
Log:
Added section about maintaining debian/changelog

Modified:
    website/subversion.pod

Modified: website/subversion.pod
URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/website/subversion.pod?rev=6577&op=diff
==============================================================================

--- website/subversion.pod (original)
+++ website/subversion.pod Mon Aug 13 19:38:53 2007
@@ -296,7 +296,45 @@
 you can build and release/tag the package normally as shown in the previous
 sections.
 
-=head1 7. Hints and Tricks
+=head1 7. Maintaining debian/changelog
+
+Of course, the proper tool for this is B<debchange> or for short, B<dch>. There
+are a couple of caveats, though.
+
+First, add C<DEBCHANGE_RELEASE_HEURISTIC=changelog> to C<~/.devscripts>. This
+would turn on release heuristics of B<dch>, causing it to treat changelog
+entry with release=UNRELEASED as a working one and if release is not
+UNRELEASED, then the entry is considered released and B<dch> adds new entry
+(with release=UNRELEASED). This way one always knows which package is released
+and which is not.
+
+Second, add C<svn-noautodch> to C<~/.svn-buildpackage>. Thiss will stop
+C<svn-build-package --svn-tag> from adding new changelog entries.
+
+With these configurations in place, the release field in the last
+debian/changelog entry reflects the current state of the repository:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item UNRELEASED
+
+The package is work in progress. It is not uploaded yet and is not ready to be
+uploaded.
+
+=item something else
+
+The package is either uploaded or is pending upload. The periodic cron job that
+generates L<http://pkg-perl.alioth.debian.org/qa/versions.html> distingueshes
+between the two cases by looking in the package archive/incoming and NEW.
+
+=back
+
+Another thing to consider is adding C<DEBCHANGE_MULIMAINT=no> to
+C<~/.devscripts>. This avoids the [name] header in changelogs of packages that
+receive changes from several people, which is discouraged by current Group's
+policy.
+
+=head1 8. Hints and Tricks
 
 =over 4
 


