Development Environment
Installing the basics
To start development on packages you need to not install package specific dependencies, but also the general toolset for Debian packages.
sudo apt install devscripts dpkg-dev build-essential dh-make debhelper
devscripts
Includes various CLI tools to work with and manipulate a source package, see the description for more details:
apt show devscripts
dpkg-dev
Brings the dpkg-*
tools to actually build and assemble the packages,
this is installed automatically as dependency of devscripts
.
debhelper
Since dpkg-dev
only contains the very basic toolset, debhelper
brings are lot of automation and simplification
to the build process. And avoids you taking care about everything.
Just look for dh_*
manpages.
build-essential
Depends on the most basic build tools, like make
or gcc
, which you will need for the most Unix sources.
dh-make
An optional add-on for quick-starting Debian packages, so to have a basic boilerplate to start with packaging.
Online Resources
Various online resources exist to help you research and find details on packages.
- Tracker Central search and information base for source packages
- Including: history, versions, bugs, security info and links to sources and other tools
- Debian GitLab
Please also see the online resources in the Admin Guide.