From fe6eb1c593e2df135c8807bf94df614984b4d6ec Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Daniel Baumann Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:04:46 +0200 Subject: Adding live-helper 1.0~a1-1. --- .../common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-ftparchives.en.html | 567 +++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 567 insertions(+) create mode 100644 includes/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-ftparchives.en.html (limited to 'includes/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-ftparchives.en.html') diff --git a/includes/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-ftparchives.en.html b/includes/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-ftparchives.en.html new file mode 100644 index 000000000..013350708 --- /dev/null +++ b/includes/common/doc/FAQ/html/ch-ftparchives.en.html @@ -0,0 +1,567 @@ + + + + + + + + +The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ - The Debian FTP archives + + + + + +

+ +

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+ +

+The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ +
Chapter 5 - The Debian FTP archives +

+ +

5.1 What are all those directories at the Debian FTP archives?

+ +

+The software that has been packaged for Debian GNU/Linux is available in one of +several directory trees on each Debian mirror site. +

+ +

+The dists directory is short for "distributions", and it +is the canonical way to access the currently available Debian releases (and +pre-releases). +

+ +

+The pool directory contains the actual packages, see What's in the pool directory?, Section 5.10. +

+ +

+There are the following supplementary directories: +

/tools/:: +
+DOS utilities for creating boot disks, partitioning your disk drive, +compressing/decompressing files, and booting Linux. +
+

/doc/:: +
+The basic Debian documentation, such as the FAQ, the bug reporting system +instructions, etc. +
+

/indices/:: +
+The Maintainers file and the override files. +
+

/project/:

+mostly developer-only materials, such as: +

project/experimental/:: +
+This directory contains packages and tools which are still being developed, and +are still in the alpha testing stage. Users shouldn't be using packages from +here, because they can be dangerous and harmful even for the most experienced +people. +
+

+ +

5.2 How many Debian distributions are there in the `dists` directory?

+ +

+There are three distributions, the "stable" distribution, the +"testing" distribution, and the "unstable" distribution. +The "testing" distribution is sometimes `frozen' (see What about "testing"? How is it `frozen'?, Section +5.6.1). +

+ +

5.3 What are all those names like slink, potato, etc.?

+ +

+They are just "codenames". When a Debian distribution is in the +development stage, it has no version number but a codename. The purpose of +these codenames is to make easier the mirroring of the Debian distributions (if +a real directory like unstable suddenly changed its name to +stable, a lot of stuff would have to be needlessly downloaded +again). +

+ +

+Currently, stable is a symbolic link to sarge (i.e. +Debian GNU/Linux 3.1) and testing is a symbolic link to +etch. This means that sarge is the current stable +distribution and etch is the current testing distribution. +

+ +

+unstable is a permanent symbolic link to sid, as +sid is always the unstable distribution (see What +about "sid"?, Section 5.4). +

+ +

5.3.1 Which other codenames have been used in the past?

+ +

+Other codenames that have been already used are: buzz for release +1.1, rex for release 1.2, bo for releases 1.3.x, +hamm for release 2.0, slink for release 2.1, +potato for release 2.2 and woody for release 3.0. +

+ +

5.3.2 Where do these codenames come from?

+ +

+So far they have been characters taken from the movie "Toy Story" by +Pixar. +

+
+buzz (Buzz Lightyear) was the spaceman, +
+

+
+rex was the tyrannosaurus, +
+

+
+bo (Bo Peep) was the girl who took care of the sheep, +
+

+
+hamm was the piggy bank, +
+

+
+slink (Slinky Dog (R)) was the toy dog, +
+

+
+potato was, of course, Mr. Potato (R), +
+

+
+woody was the cowboy, +
+

+
+sarge was the sergeant of the Green Plastic Army Men, +
+

+
+etch was the toy blackboard (Etch-a-Sketch (R)). +
+

+
+sid was the boy next door who destroyed toys. +
+

+ +

5.4 What about "sid"?

+ +

+sid or unstable is the place where most of the packages are +initially uploaded. It will never be released directly, because packages which +are to be released will first have to be included in testing, in order +to be released in stable later on. sid contains packages for both +released and unreleased architectures. +

+ +

+The name "sid" also comes from the "Toy Story" animated +motion picture: Sid was the boy next door who destroyed toys :-) +

+ +

+[1] +

+ +

5.5 What does the stable directory contain?

+
+stable/main/: This directory contains the packages which formally constitute +the most recent release of the Debian GNU/Linux system. +
+ +
+These packages all comply with the Debian Free Software +Guidelines, and are all freely usable and distributable. +
+

+
+stable/non-free/: This directory contains packages distribution of which is +restricted in a way that requires that distributors take careful account of the +specified copyright requirements. +
+ +
+For example, some packages have licenses which prohibit commercial +distribution. Others can be redistributed but are in fact shareware and not +freeware. The licenses of each of these packages must be studied, and possibly +negotiated, before the packages are included in any redistribution (e.g., in a +CD-ROM). +
+

+
+stable/contrib/: This directory contains packages which are DFSG-free and +freely distributable themselves, but somehow depend on a package that +is not freely distributable and thus available only in the non-free +section. +
+

+ +

5.6 What does the testing directory contain?

+ +

+Packages are installed into the `testing' directory after they have undergone +some degree of testing in unstable. +

+ +

+They must be in sync on all architectures where they have been built and +mustn't have dependencies that make them uninstallable; they also have to have +fewer release-critical bugs than the versions currently in testing. This way, +we hope that `testing' is always close to being a release candidate. +

+ +

+More information about the status of "testing" in general and the +individual packages is available at http://www.debian.org/devel/testing +

+ +

5.6.1 What about "testing"? How is it `frozen'?

+ +

+When the "testing" distribution is mature enough, the release manager +starts `freezing' it. The normal propagation delays are increased to ensure +that as little as possible new bugs from "unstable" enter +"testing". +

+ +

+After a while, the "testing" distribution becomes truly `frozen'. +This means that all new packages that are to propagate to the +"testing" are held back, unless they include release-critical bug +fixes. The "testing" distribution can also remain in such a deep +freeze during the so-called `test cycles', when the release is imminent. +

+ +

+We keep a record of bugs in the "testing" distribution that can hold +off a package from being released, or bugs that can hold back the whole +release. For details, please see current testing release +information. +

+ +

+Once that bug count lowers to maximum acceptable values, the frozen +"testing" distribution is declared "stable" and released +with a version number. +

+ +

+With each new release, the previous "stable" distribution becomes +obsolete and moves to the archive. For more information please see Debian archive. +

+ +

5.7 What does the unstable directory contain?

+ +

+The `unstable' directory contains a snapshot of the current development system. +Users are welcome to use and test these packages, but are warned about their +state of readiness. The advantage of using the unstable distribution is that +you are always up-to-date with the latest in GNU/Linux software industry, but +if it breaks: you get to keep both parts :-) +

+ +

+There are also main, contrib and non-free subdirectories in `unstable', +separated on the same criteria as in `stable'. +

+ +

5.8 What are all those directories inside `dists/stable/main`?

+ +

+Within each of the major directory trees[2], there are three sets of subdirectories containing index +files. +

+ +

+There's one set of binary-something subdirectories +which contain index files for binary packages of each available computer +architecture, for example binary-i386 for packages which execute +on Intel x86 PC machines or binary-sparc for packages which +execute on Sun SPARCStations. +

+ +

+The complete list of available architectures for each release is available at +the release's web +page. For the current release, please see On what hardware architectures/systems does +Debian GNU/Linux run?, Section 3.1. +

+ +

+The index files in binary-* are called Packages(.gz) and they include a summary +of each binary package that is included in that distribution. The actual +binary packages (for woody and subsequent releases) reside in the top +level pool directory. +

+ +

+Furthermore, there's a subdirectory called source/ which contains index files +for source packages included in the distribution. The index file is called +Sources(.gz). +

+ +

+Last but not least, there's a set of subdirectories meant for the installation +system index files. In the woody release, these are named +disks-architecture; in sarge, they are at +debian-installer/binary-architecture. +

+ +

5.9 Where is the source code?

+ +

+Source code is included for everything in the Debian system. Moreover, the +license terms of most programs in the system require that source code +be distributed along with the programs, or that an offer to provide the source +code accompany the programs. +

+ +

+The source code is distributed in the pool directory (see What's in the pool directory?, Section 5.10) +together with all the architecture-specific binary directories. To retrieve +the source code without having to be familiar with the structure of the FTP +archive, try a command like apt-get source mypackagename. +

+ +

+Some packages are only distributed as source code due to the restrictions in +their licenses. Notably, one such package is pine, see Where is pine?, Section 4.10 for more +information. +

+ +

+Source code may or may not be available for packages in the "contrib" +and "non-free" directories, which are not formally part of the Debian +system. +

+ +

5.10 What's in the `pool` directory?

+ +

+Packages are kept in a large `pool', structured according to the name of the +source package. To make this manageable, the pool is subdivided by section +(`main', `contrib' and `non-free') and by the first letter of the source +package name. These directories contain several files: the binary packages for +each architecture, and the source packages from which the binary packages were +generated. +

+ +

+You can find out where each package is placed by executing a command like +apt-cache showsrc mypackagename and looking at the `Directory:' +line. For example, the apache packages are stored in +pool/main/a/apache/. +

+ +

+Additionally, since there are so many lib* packages, these are +treated specially: for instance, libpaper packages are stored in +pool/main/libp/libpaper/. +

+ +

+[3] +

+ +

5.11 What is "incoming"?

+ +

+After a developer uploads a package, it stays for a short while in the +"incoming" directory before it is checked that it's genuine and +allowed into the archive. +

+ +

+Usually nobody should install things from this place. However, in some rare +cases of emergency, the incoming directory is available at http://incoming.debian.org/. You +can manually fetch packages, check the GPG signature and MD5sums in the +.changes and .dsc files, and then install them. +

+ +

5.12 How do I set up my own apt-able repository?

+ +

+If you have built some private Debian packages which you'd like to install +using the standard Debian package management tools, you can set up your own +apt-able package archive. This is also useful if you'd like to share your +Debian packages while these are not distributed by the Debian project. +Instructions on how to do this are given in the Debian +Repository HOWTO. +

+ +