What's the three kinds of files when using apt-get source xxx

[Ruben Laban]

On Friday 29 January 2010 at 13:12 (CET), Thomas Dean wrote:
> I have a question about "apt-get source xxx".When I use apt-get source
> xxx, it downloads three kinds of files like these:
> xxx.diff.gz
> xxx.tar.gz
> xxx.dsc
> What are they used for? May I delete the diff file and the dsc file?

xxx.tar.gz : the original source tarball
xxx.diff.gz : ubuntu specific changes/patches
xxx.dsc : contains some info about the package and files

> I have another question about updating.
> If I install a software by downloading the sources with "apt-get
> source xxx" and calling "make install", will it be upgraded
> automatically by "apt-get upgrade"?

No, if you want your software to be upgraded by apt-get upgrade, use apt-get 
install xxx instead. 

Usualy you'd never need apt-get source, unless you want to apply custom 
patches to it, or compile a newer version based on an older version.

-- 
Ruben