Package: util-linux
Version: 2.12r-10
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
Some co-workers and I recently experienced some frustration when we were
unable to find any mention of "hwclock" with an apt-cache search.
This turns out to be because util-linux (the binary package) is pretty
cagey about what it contains from a package description perspective.
Now that I've looked into it, I know about the "whereis" utility, which
might have helped.
In packaging the X Window System I found that it was useful to list all of
the commands in descriptions of packages like xbase-clients and xutils,
which were essentially grab-bags of applications and utilities. util-linux
seems similar.
Furthermore, in reviewing debian/rules, I find that there are many
utilities which are omitted or renamed depending on the architecture
string. I knew there was a little of this, but I was surprised at the
scope. I have therefore attempted to document these discrepancies. Some
of them are griped about in various bug reports against the package.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to further improve this
patch so that it is acceptable for inclusion in a future release.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: powerpc (ppc)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.15-1-powerpc-smp
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Versions of packages util-linux depends on:
ii libc6 2.3.6.ds1-2 GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii libncurses5 5.5-2 Shared libraries for terminal hand
ii libslang2 2.0.6-3 The S-Lang programming library - r
ii libuuid1 1.39-1 universally unique id library
ii lsb-base 3.1-14 Linux Standard Base 3.1 init scrip
ii zlib1g 1:1.2.3-13 compression library - runtime
util-linux recommends no packages.
-- no debconf information
diff -urN util-linux-2.12r.orig/debian/control util-linux-2.12r/debian/control
--- util-linux-2.12r.orig/debian/control 2006-08-21 12:51:33.000000000
-0400
+++ util-linux-2.12r/debian/control 2006-08-21 14:03:58.000000000 -0400
@@ -16,10 +16,59 @@
Replaces: miscutils, setterm, fdisk, ${util-linux:Conflicts}
Conflicts: setterm, fdisk, kbd (<< 1.05-3), console-tools (<< 1:0.2.3-21),
${util-linux:Conflicts}
Description: Miscellaneous system utilities
- This package contains a number of important utilities, most of which
- are oriented towards maintenance of your system. Some of the more
- important utilities included in this package allow you to partition
- your hard disk, view kernel messages, and create new filesystems.
+ This package contains a number of important utilities, most of which are
+ oriented towards maintenance of your system. Some of the more important
+ utilities included in this package allow you to partition your hard disk,
+ view kernel messages, and create new filesystems.
+ .
+ The following programs are included in this package:
+ * arch - print machine architecture
+ * blockdev - call block device ioctl()s from the command line (*)
+ * cfdisk - manipulate partition tables using a curses-based interface (*)
+ * chkdupexe - find duplicate executables
+ * cytune - tune Linux Cyclades driver parameters
+ * ddate - convert Gregorian dates to Discordian dates
+ * fdisk - manipulate partition tables interactively
+ * dmesg - print or control kernel ring buffer (*)
+ * elvtune - tune Linux I/O elevator (*)
+ * fdformat - perform low-level format of a floppy diskette (*)
+ * fsck.cramfs - check consistency of compressed ROM filesystems
+ * fsck.minix - check consistency of Minix filesystems
+ * getopt - parse command-line arguments
+ * getty - prompt for login on a TTY port
+ * hwclock - query and set the hardware real-time clock (RTC) (*)
+ * ipcrm - remove an IPC message queue, semaphore set, or shared memory ID
+ * ipcs - provide information on IPC facilities
+ * isosize - output the length of an ISO 9660 filesystem (*)
+ * line - read one line
+ * mcookie - generate magic cookies for xauth
+ * mkfs - build a Linux filesystem
+ * mkswap - set up a Linux swap area
+ * more - browse pagewise through text files
+ * namei - follow a pathname until a terminal point is found
+ * pg - browse pagewise through text files
+ * pivot_root - change the root filesystem
+ * raw - bind a Linux raw character device to a block device (*)
+ * readprofile - read Linux kernel profiling information (*)
+ * rdev, ramsize, rootflags, vidmode - query/set image root device, RAM disk
+ size, or video mode (*)
+ * rev - reverse lines of a file
+ * setsid - run a program in a new session
+ * setterm - set terminal attributes
+ * sfdisk - manipulate partition tables (*)
+ * tunelp - set various parameters for the lp device
+ * whereis - locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command
+ .
+ Programs marked with a an asterisk in parentheses (*) are not available on
+ all Debian platforms, because they are utilities for manipulating hardware or
+ kernel interfaces that do not exist on some systems.
+ .
+ Futhermore, some of the above programs are installed with different names on
+ certain Debian platforms.
+ * "fdisk" is called "ddisk" on PowerPC (and PPC64) systems to emphasize its
+ nature as an editor for DOS parition tables.
+ * "mkfs" is called "mkfs.linux" on GNU/Hurd systems.
+ * "getty" is called "agetty" on GNU/Hurd systems.
Package: util-linux-locales
Architecture: all
@@ -40,8 +89,16 @@
Section: admin
Pre-Depends: ${mount:Depends}
Description: Tools for mounting and manipulating filesystems
- This package provides the mount(8), umount(8), swapon(8),
- swapoff(8), and losetup(8) commands.
+ This package provides the following commands:
+ * mount - mount a filesystem
+ * umount - unmount a filesystem (*)
+ * swapon - enable devices and files for paging and swapping
+ * swapoff - disable devices and files for paging and swapping
+ * losetup - set up and control loop devices (*)
+ .
+ Programs marked with a an asterisk in parentheses (*) are not available on
+ all Debian platforms, because they are utilities for manipulating hardware or
+ kernel interfaces that do not exist on some systems.
Package: bsdutils
Architecture: any
@@ -50,11 +107,16 @@
Pre-Depends: ${bsdutils:Depends}
Recommends: bsdmainutils
Description: Basic utilities from 4.4BSD-Lite
- This package contains the bare minimum number of BSD utilities needed
- to boot a Debian system. You should probably also install
- bsdmainutils to get the remaining standard BSD utilities.
+ This package contains the bare minimum number of BSD utilities needed to boot
+ a Debian system. You should probably also install bsdmainutils to get the
+ remaining standard BSD utilities.
.
- Included are: logger, renice, replay, script, wall
+ This package provides the following commands:
+ * logger - make entries in the system log
+ * renice - alter priority of running processes
+ * script - make typescript of terminal session
+ * scriptreplay - play back typescripts using timing information
+ * wall - write a message to users
Package: fdisk-udeb
Architecture: alpha amd64 arm hppa i386 ia64 mips mipsel powerpc ppc64
hurd-i386 sparc s390
