apt-get source changes for packages maintained in VCS

[Reinhard Tartler]

Scott Kitterman <ubuntu at kitterman.com> writes:

> First, pyspf is not maintained in the Debian Python Modules Team svn.  The 
> Debian packaging for it is maintained there.  The actual Python module is 
> maintained on Sourceforge, so as written, it is incorrect. 

I don't think that really matters here. If you want to be supercorrect,
you would have to express this information in extra fields, and even
express if the 'upstream branch' (if any) contains the complete
upstream, or only releases of it. See [1] for a more verbose discussion
about this. 

[1] http://wiki.tauware.de/misc:vcs-packaging

However, I'm wondering if we really need that much detail.

> Similarly, if I am considering an Ubuntu revision for a package, the
> Debian SVN is not the source for code that I'm patching, the Ubuntu
> source repository is.

This is adressed by changing the XS-Vcs-Bzr field to pointing the
correct branch on launchpad. If you are patching an unmodified debian
source package, then the information is correct anyway.

> I can understand the desire to inform developers that there is a VCS (I think 
> that's sensible), but it is at most tangential to many use cases.

I can only see one use case: A developer wants to get the source
(interactively!) to either examine it or work on it. I think we can
expect him to figure out himself about details like the branch having
only the packaging information and such.

Perhaps you can give me some more use cases?

-- 
Gruesse/greetings,
Reinhard Tartler, KeyID 945348A4