Niels Thykier <ni...@thykier.net> writes:
> The section C.2.4 seems to be a bit outdated. Quote:
> """
> C.2.4 debian/tmp
> This is the canonical temporary location for the construction of
> binary packages by the binary target. The directory tmp serves as the
> root of the file system tree as it is being constructed (for example,
> by using the package's upstream makefiles install targets and
> redirecting the output there), and it also contains the DEBIAN
> subdirectory. [...]
> If several binary packages are generated from the same source tree it
> is usual to use several debian/tmpsomething directories, for example
> tmp-a or tmp-doc.
> [...]
> """
> However, the default used by debhelper is "debian/<pkg>", which covers
> up to 99% of all packages.
Thanks for pointing this out. The (non-normative) appendices have not
gotten a lot of love. I've applied the following patch to update this at
least somewhat:
diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
index aacf0cd..e086321 100644
--- a/policy.sgml
+++ b/policy.sgml
@@ -11167,12 +11167,13 @@ END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
</p>
<p>
- In order to create a binary package you must make a
- directory tree which contains all the files and directories
- you want to have in the file system data part of the package.
- In Debian-format source packages this directory is usually
- <file>debian/tmp</file>, relative to the top of the package's
- source tree.
+ In order to create a binary package, you must make a directory
+ tree which contains all the files and directories you want to
+ have in the file system data part of the package. In
+ Debian-format source packages, this directory is usually
+ either <file>debian/tmp</file>
+ or <file>debian/<var>pkg</var></file>, relative to the top of
+ the package's source tree.
</p>
<p>
@@ -11506,7 +11507,7 @@ END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
Sources which build several binaries will typically need
something like:
<example>
- dpkg-gencontrol -Pdebian/tmp-<var>pkg</var> -p<var>package</var>
+ dpkg-gencontrol -Pdebian/<var>pkg</var> -p<var>package</var>
</example> The <tt>-P</tt> tells
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> that the package is being
built in a non-default directory, and the <tt>-p</tt>
@@ -11653,27 +11654,39 @@ END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
</heading>
<p>
- This is the canonical temporary location for the
- construction of binary packages by the <tt>binary</tt>
- target. The directory <file>tmp</file> serves as the root of
- the file system tree as it is being constructed (for
- example, by using the package's upstream makefiles install
- targets and redirecting the output there), and it also
- contains the <tt>DEBIAN</tt> subdirectory. See <ref
- id="pkg-bincreating">.
+ This is the default temporary location for the construction of
+ binary packages by the <tt>binary</tt> target. The
+ directory <file>tmp</file> serves as the root of the file
+ system tree as it is being constructed (for example, by using
+ the package's upstream makefiles install targets and
+ redirecting the output there), and it also contains
+ the <tt>DEBIAN</tt> subdirectory.
+ See <ref id="pkg-bincreating">.
</p>
<p>
- If several binary packages are generated from the same
- source tree it is usual to use several
- <file>debian/tmp<var>something</var></file> directories, for
- example <file>tmp-a</file> or <file>tmp-doc</file>.
+ This is only a default and can be easily overridden. Most
+ packaging tools no longer use <file>debian/tmp</file>, instead
+ preferring <file>debian/<var>pkg</var></file> for the common
+ case of a source package building only one binary package.
+ Such tools usually only use <file>debian/tmp</file> as a
+ temporary staging area for built files and do not construct
+ packages from it.
</p>
<p>
- Whatever <file>tmp</file> directories are created and used by
- <tt>binary</tt> must of course be removed by the
- <tt>clean</tt> target.</p></sect1>
+ If several binary packages are generated from the same source
+ tree, it is usual to use a separate
+ <file>debian/<var>pkg</var></file> directory for each binary
+ package as the temporary construction locations.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ Whatever temporary directories are created and used by the
+ <tt>binary</tt> target must of course be removed by the
+ <tt>clean</tt> target.
+ </p>
+ </sect1>
</sect>
--
Russ Allbery (r...@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
