Re: workflow with Debian patches and Git repositories (was: libpager multi-client support)

[Brent W. Baccala]

On Sat, Oct 15, 2016 at 11:17 PM, Kalle Olavi Niemitalo <kon@iki.fi> wrote:

I also have a "hurd-debian" working tree.  I extracted that from
the Debian source package, so that I got a .pc directory with the
correct state information.  I then added a .git directory cloned
from "git://anonscm.debian.org/pkg-hurd/hurd.git", so that I can
view the history and make local commits.

This is the step that most raises my hackles.  You tack a .git directory onto the unpacked Debian source package?

It looks to me like that Debian git tree contains an unpacked snapshot of the savannah git tree.  Various commits there are labeled "new upstream snapshot"; I suppose that's how changes to savannah get imported?  And those other .tar.gz files that make up the Debian source package are unpacked into it as well?  Are they snapshots taken from the incubator git tree?

Is the Debian git tree composed exclusively of pieces pulled from various git trees on savannah?

How does the Debian source package actually get built?  Is there a script?

Could we reorganize the Debian git tree to import the savannah git trees as submodules?  Or has this approach been deliberately rejected?

And then, of course, the Debian patches are checked into git as files, not (git) patches.  I was just reading about "git-buildpackage", which manages Debian patches by converting them back and forth to git patches on a dedicated branch.  You keep this branch local and rebase it to apply the patches to a new location.  Sounds a little crazy, but interesting.

Just trying to get my mind around all this.

    agape

    brent