Packaging policy

This document explains the rules pertaining to PLF packages.

Inclusion

PLF goal is to distribute packages that can't be included in mainstream distributions. Whereas original focus was free software with legal concerns, such as DVD players, it quickly extended to distributable non-free software also, mostly for practical reasons. We do care about software freedom issue, however, so the need for a clear distinction of the two issues, as well as preventing work duplication with upstream distributions.

Applied to PLF package for Mandrivalinux, this means:

any software compatible with Mandrivalinux policy is not suitable for PLF, and must be submitted as an official contrib package instead. See the procedure on Cooker wiki
any software uncompatible with Mandrivalinux policy for legal or explicit content issues is suitable for a PLF package in free section, only if it do not depend on a package in the non-free section.
any software uncompatible with Mandrivalinux policy for license or copyright issues is suitable for a PLF package in non-free section.

Any software for which only some options contradict Mandrivalinux policy must be submitted as an official contrib package with those options disabled by default, but conditional build options allowing to maintain a PLF build in parallel. See Cooker wiki for more info on the syntax to use. See also the spec files of package like mplayer.

Package in the free section should only depends on the main, contribs and plf free section. If a package is suitable for free but depend on the non-free section, it should go in non-free. Packages in the non-free section must only depends on plf, main and contribs repository.

Packaging

All the standard policy from the upstream distribution apply, plus additional points detailed below.

Applied to PLF package for Mandrivalinux, this means:

All standard policy described here
The package description must explains why the package is in PLF
The packager tag, as well as the changelog entry, must use the packager project adress (login@zarb.org)
The vendor tag must be "Penguin Liberation Front"
The release extension must be "plf"
The distribution tag must be "Mandrivalinux"
The package should not have been compiled on a mandrakesoft computer

Failing to comply with these points will range from preventing package upload to simple rpmlint warnings.

Release

PLF support multiple architectures and distributions versions. However, in order to enforce a sane workflow, the same rules as the upstream distribution apply, with additional points detailed below.

Applied to PLF package for Mandrivalinux, this means:

packages introduction/deletion happen in the default cooker/i586 branch exclusively
rebuilding for other version/architecture is optional, and must use the same source package