Subject: Packaging questions (newbie)

From: Milan Zamazal <[email-masked]>
Date: 19 Aug 1996 11:58:28 +0200

I'd like to contribute some packages, but I'd like to ask some
questions first:

1. One of these packages is the replacement of `libX11.so'.  Do I have to make
whole alternative version of appropriate standard X package or is there some
way to make small "one-file-replacement" package?

2. Some of these packages (like X fonts) would be related to ISO-8859-2 only
and some of them (like Czech fonts and format files for TeX) are even
interesting only for Czech speaking users.  It is probably not good idea to
place Czech-only packages to the main tree.  Or it is?

3. What and where are (are there?) up-to-date `Debian Packaging Guidelines'?

And one not packaging related question:

4. What does word `Debian' mean?

Thanks for any help.

-- 
Milan Zamazal
Student of computer science, Masaryk University, Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic
mailto:[email-masked]                               http://www.fi.muni.cz/~pdm

---

From: [email-masked] (joost witteveen)
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 15:26:12 +0200 (MET DST)

> way to make small "one-file-replacement" package?

One way of doing it is making your own directory, say,
  /usr/X11R6/lib/xczech
put your czech version of libX11.so in that dir, and, in the postinst
add the /usr/X11R6/lib/xczech to the front of /etc/ld.so.conf.
(and remove it again in the postrm).

This is the way it is done in Xaw3d, and seems to work reasonable well.

> place Czech-only packages to the main tree.  Or it is?

Well, I think it is. There are the german man pages, and I think a
few non-english dictionaries in the main tree too. And, put it another
way, most of the main-tree is only of interest to the english-speaking
community -- why would we discriminate against czech?

Then again, I come from Europe to, and my first language isn't English
eighter.

Good luck with your packages!

-- 
joost witteveen
            [email-masked]
          [email-masked]
--
Use Debian/GNU Linux!

---

From: Ian Jackson <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 96 18:31 BST

> way to make small "one-file-replacement" package?

Yes.  It's in the manual.

> 3. What and where are (are there?) up-to-date `Debian Packaging Guidelines'?

Install dpkg 1.3.8 and run your favourite web browser on the local
file /usr/doc/dpkg/programmer.html/index.html and
.../policy.html/index.html.

Thanks,
Ian.