Ubuntu Packaging Guide

[Jordan Mantha]

Hi all!

   I have been trying to get some kind of packaging guide for MOTU 
Wannabes and people interested in packaging in general put together. It 
will be a part of the ubuntu-docs package and on help.ubuntu.com. Some 
MOTUs and the doc-team have been interested in this. I have created a 
rough outline of some ideas at 
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuPackagingGuide/Outline . I would really 
appreciate it if you guys would look it over and give me some 
feedback/suggestions/criticism .
   Here is some of my thoughts and reasoning behind the Ubuntu Packaging 
Guide:

  1. There are many different sources of information on packaging all 
over the web. Sometimes they are contradictory and not applicable to 
Ubuntu and sometimes the information is out-dated or wrong. It is hard 
for a person wanting to learn to package (and help the MOTU) to get 
correct information.

  2. The Debian New Maintainer's Guide could be improved upon. Many 
packaging newbies find the appendix to be the most instructive part. I 
think that we can create a guide that makes extensive use of real 
examples. I have in mind to use the hello packages for the examples. The 
point is to get the readers to the examples as soon as possible.

  3. I would like to make the Packaging Guide more modular. I would like 
to try to have basic and advanced sections. Also, within the examples I 
would like to have advanced tips in Tips balloons (not sure what the 
proper terminology is for those). That way there will hopefully be info 
for different experience levels. It might be also nice to have a 
reference or glossary section but that might come later.

  4. I would like to see more Ubuntu specific information. For example, 
I think that information about ubuntu versioning, MOTU maintainership, 
sponsorship, merges, syncs, the release cycle, and perhaps REVU would be 
nice. I think that the only constraint would be that it would have to be 
fairly stable if the Ubuntu Packaging Guide is to be shipped with the 
ubuntu-docs package.

Anyway, I would like a healthy discussion of what concepts/tools should 
be included and I don't want this to turn into just what I think a 
Packaging Guide should look like. I think it should really be about what 
the developers want to see in their new packagers and what people 
learning to package need to know to meet the devs expectations.
I am looking forward to the motu-school sessions and hope that we can 
pull some of the material into the Packaging Guide. If anybody feels the 
desire to help that would also be appreciated. I will probably be asking 
the MOTUs lots of questions (probably not very intelligently and with 
much ignorance) but I hope in the end we can create a useful tool.

-Jordan Mantha (LaserJock)