Hello. Many packages in the ada-france monotone repository rely on two branches: - $(upstream_branch) contains at least a tag for each upstream version - $(debian_branch) tracks changes in the ./debian/ subdirectory
Working on the package starts with something like $ mtn -r t:foo-X.Y checkout $(dir) $ rm -rf $(dir)/_MTN $ mtn -r h:$(debian_branch) checkout $(dir) Often, the maintainer lists $(upstream_branch) files into "./.mtn-ignore" in the $(debian_branch), so that their names do not pollute "mtn list missing && mtn list unknown && mtn status" output. This is cumbersome, and error-prone: - each upstream release may add files and requires manual updating - mentioning bar makes mtn ignore the ./bar file, but also all changes to ./debian/bar. These changes are silently ignored during commits. - escaping special characters is not natural (dot for example) Why not merge $(upstream_branch) changes into $(debian_branch) each time an upstream version is released? The merge cannot fail in normal circumstances, since all Debian stuff is located in the specific ./debian subdirectory. Working only starts with $ mtn -r h:$(debian_branch) checkout dir Jumping from a package version to another is easy with "mtn update -t$(debian_tag)" even if there has been an upstream release in between. No ".mtn-ignore" file is needed anymore. It becomes a good thing that mtn reports every (most probably unwanted) change outside ./debian. The mtn database size is only marginally increased for packages allready tracking upstream tarballs content. The only cost I can see is an added complexity in patches handling. - They should be unapplied before committing - A recent dpkg unapplies all patches it has applied during the build, except in case of build failure. This means that a failed build will need a manual "quilt pop -a". I guess that everyone does something like "debuild clean && mtn list missing && mtn list unknow && mtn status" before "mtn commit", so that should not be a problem. Ideas? -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20120413093109.GB2775@pegase
