A (git) workflow for Debian packaging

[martin f krafft]

also sprach Manoj Srivastava <srivasta at debian.org> [2007.10.05.2048 +0100]:
>   a) You have a branch for your ./debian directory, right? In an earlier
>      incantation on this list, you had a debian-dir ancestr that you
>      could inherit from, and thus rapidly deploy changes to ./debian. Is
>      this still the case?

Sort of, I just ended up renaming debian-dir to master. Since that's
the main branch which I will need in all Debian packaging attempts,
I might just settle for the default name.

>         I also have ./debian, which is a child of a parent debian-dir
>         project, which allows me to have a common build setup, and
>         rapidly make changes across all my packages are required (new
>         policy, etc).
> 
>         I also have ./debian/common, a separate project, which is the
>         single location to make changes to the common package building
>         setup.
> 
>  Can git actually handle such a setup? (my understanding was that it can
>  not, but I'll be happy to be proved wrong).

I think it can very well do this. One approach is with submodules,
as Pierre points out. They actually may be perfect for what you're
trying to do, at least for ./debian/common.

The other approach (for ./debian) would simply be another remote
added to your local repo, e.g. debian-dir and then to branch
debiandir off debian-dir/master. In that case, you would be tracking
two separate ancestries in your repo: upstream, and debian-dir, and
they wouldn't know about each other until you merge them at one
point.

Or you could just use debhelper. :)

>         I don't know git well enough yet to have interesting commentary
>  on the rest of the post; but if git has indeed gained the capability to
>  handle nested projects (my ./debian dirs for separate packages havce
>  little to do with the upstream software in thge packages,mbut have a
>  lot in common with each other), then it might be worth spending time to
>  learn git and move on from arch.

On the topic of submodules, you may also like to read the following
two URLs, *after* reading the documentation on submodules:

  http://lists.zerezo.com/git/msg629629.html
  http://lists.zerezo.com/git/msg629649.html

-- 
martin;              (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
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