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22.12 Version 4.0.0
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Released May, 2017.

4.3

     ‘config.sub’ and ‘config.guess’ should be updated at build time or
     replaced with the versions from autotools-dev.

4.9

     New ‘TARGET’ set of ‘dpkg-architecture’ variables and new
     ‘DEB_*_ARCH_BITS’ and ‘DEB_*_ARCH_ENDIAN’ variables.

4.9.1

     New ‘DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS’ tag, ‘nodoc’, which says to suppress
     documentation generation (but continue to build all binary
     packages, even documentation packages, just let them be mostly
     empty).

5.2

     Automatically-generated debug packages do not need to have a
     corresponding paragraph in ‘debian/control’.  (This is existing
     practice; this Policy update is just clearer about it.)

5.6.12

     Colons are not permitted in upstream version numbers.

7.7

     New ‘Build-Depends-Arch’ and ‘Build-Conflicts-Arch’ fields are now
     supported.

8.4

     The recommended package name for shared library development files
     is now libraryname-dev or librarynameapiversion-dev, not
     librarynamesoversion-dev.

9.1.1

     The stable release of Debian supports ‘/run’, so packages may now
     assume that it exists and do not need any special dependency on a
     version of initscripts.

9.3.2

     New optional ‘try-restart’ standard init script argument, which (if
     supported) should restart the service if it is already running and
     otherwise just report success.

9.3.2

     Support for the ‘status’ init script argument is recommended.

9.3.3.2

     Packages must not call ‘/etc/init.d’ scripts directly even as a
     fallback, and instead must always use ‘invoke-rc.d’ (which is
     essential and shouldn’t require any conditional).

9.11.1

     Instructions for ‘upstart’ integration removed since ‘upstart’ is
     no longer maintained in Debian.

10.1

     Packages may not install files in both ‘/path’ and ‘/usr/path’, and
     must manage any backward-compatibility symlinks so that they don’t
     break if ‘/path’ and ‘/usr/path’ are the same directory.

10.6

     Packages should assume device files in ‘/dev’ are dynamically
     managed and don’t have to be created by the package.  Packages
     other than those whose purpose is to manage ‘/dev’ must not create
     or remove files there when a dynamic management facility is in use.
     Named pipes and device files outside of ‘/dev’ should normally be
     created on demand via init scripts, systemd units, or similar
     mechanisms, but may be created and removed in maintainer scripts if
     they must be created during package installation.

10.9

     Checking with the base-passwd maintainer is no longer required (or
     desirable) when creating a new dynamic user or group in a package.

12.3

     Dependencies on *-doc packages should be at most Recommends
     (Suggests if they only include documentation in supplemental
     formats).

12.5

     The Mozilla Public License 1.1 and 2.0 (MPL-1.1 and MPL-2.0) are
     now included in ‘/usr/share/common-licenses’ and do not need to be
     copied verbatim in the package ‘copyright’ file.

copyright-format

     The ‘https’ form of the copyright-format URL is now allowed and
     preferred in the ‘Format’ field.

perl

     The Perl search path now includes multiarch directories.  The
     vendor directory for architecture-specific modules is now versioned
     to support multiarch.

virtual

     New ‘adventure’ virtual package for implementations of the classic
     Colossal Cave Adventure game.

virtual

     New ‘httpd-wsgi3’ virtual package for Python 3 WSGI-capable HTTP
     servers.  The existing ‘httpd-wsgi’ virtual package is for Python 2
     WSGI-capable HTTP servers.

virtual

     New ‘virtual-mysql-client’, ‘virtual-mysql-client-core’,
     ‘virtual-mysql-server’, ‘virtual-mysql-server-core’, and
     ‘virtual-mysql-testsuite’ virtual packages for MySQL-compatible
     software.