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Details about package joystickwake

Name: joystickwake
Uploader: Forest <forestix@gaga.casa> (Debian QA page)
Description: joystickwake - joystick-aware screen waker

Package uploads

Upload #4

Information

Version: 0.5.2
Uploaded: 2026-04-22 20:51
Source package: joystickwake_0.5.2.dsc
Distribution: unstable
Section: games
Priority:
Homepage: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake
Vcs-Browser: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake
Vcs-Git: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake.git
Closes bugs: #1125687

Changelog

 joystickwake (0.5.2) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Initial Debian release. (Closes: #1125687)

QA information

Comments

  1. Add:
# cat debian/watch 
Version: 5

Source: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake/tags
Matching-Pattern: .*/v@ANY_VERSION@@ARCHIVE_EXT@


debian/source/format:
3.0 (quilt)
    Needs work Alexander Ermakov at April 23, 2026, 5:57 a.m. 
  2. No, Alexander. As I have already told you, this is a native package.

The packaging lives in the same repository as the program code, is part of the official release tarball, and is developed and maintained by the same person. There is nothing upstream of it. There is no need for quilt, patches, or an .orig.tar.gz file. As such, source/format: 3.0 (quilt) would be incorrect.

Relatedly, I don't see a need for a debian/watch file. That file is for detecting upstream releases, which do not exist in this case, because it's a native package. Furthermore, Debian policy does not require a watch file even for non-native packages. So, while I don't think a watch file would do any harm, it would be needless complexity. I am inclined to avoid it unless a Debian developer chimes in with a good reason for one.

You can learn more about native packages here:

https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-source.html#source-packages
    Ready Forest at April 23, 2026, 7:40 a.m. 
  3. Using a native package in this way is unusual, but I don’t see any major *technical* objection to it with the changes you made in 0.5.2.

However I do think there is value in having a watch file, because there are separate releases: even though they are the same tarball, tags on your Codeberg repo are not equivalent to a release in Debian. While a watch file would be of no use to *you*, it would provide an indication that there is a newer release available. And as long as you’re not at least a Debian Maintainer with upload permissions on the package, you’ll be reliant on sponsors, so there will be a delay between you preparing a release and it appearing in Debian.

I said above that I don’t see any major technical objection to using a native package. I do have a non-technical concern though: as you say, your intention is to have a package maintained by the same person as the “main” author, but the end result of a native package goes beyond that — maintenance is then *tied* to a single person and a single repository. Having a native package that lives outside Debian makes it harder for Debian releases that may be required without upstream involvement, for example for new ports, backports, long-term fixes, etc. It means that *every single release* in every supported suite has to go through you. Will you always be available to handle packaging tasks during the release freeze? Will you always be available to fix security issues that might turn up?

The above applies to any native package that isn’t specifically written for Debian; it doesn’t mean that it’s a blocker for joystickwake, just that you need to be aware of all this.

Another consideration is what happens if/when joystickwake is packaged for multiple distributions; would you expect to publish a new release any time a change is required for Debian or Fedora?

(Note that I maintain a Debian package of software that I also maintain upstream; with that hat on, I prefer non-native packages.)

I’m marking this as “Needs work” because I have to pick an outcome; but I don’t expect a new upload, unless I’ve convinced you that a watch file would be useful. If you say “thanks, but I’m standing by my packaging”, I’ll look into sponsoring it; that will also let the FTP team take a look at it.
    Needs work Stephen Kitt at May 3, 2026, 4:41 p.m. 
  4. My main reason for preferring native packaging is that it helps to keep my workflow simple. (And for what it's worth, I've been available for packaging tasks in response to Ubuntu releases for over a decade already, with no reason to expect my availability to change any time soon.)

However, your points make sense: If Debian has people and procedures in place to handle unusual/unexpected packaging change needs, then I can understand the benefit of making that sort of thing as easy as possible for them.

If I were to move the debian dir into its own git repository, so that it no longer "lives outside Debian", where would it live? In my personal salsa account? I don't think I have access to put it anywhere else inside Debian, so if it's destined to end up someplace else, where should I put it for now in order to move this forward?
    Needs work Forest at May 3, 2026, 9:19 p.m.

Upload #3

Information

Version: 0.5.1
Uploaded: 2026-01-16 05:12
Source package: joystickwake_0.5.1.dsc
Distribution: unstable
Section: games
Priority:
Homepage: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake
Vcs-Browser: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake
Vcs-Git: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake.git
Closes bugs: #1125687

Changelog

 joystickwake (0.5.1) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Initial Debian release. (Closes: #1125687)

QA information

Comments

  1. Regarding your comment on native packaging on the first upload: a native package is one where downloading the tarball gives the full package source. That’s not the case here: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake/archive/v0.5.1.tar.gz doesn’t ship the debian/ directory.

On top of that, since you’re using a separate debian branch for Debian-specific packaging (as opposed to the “upstream”-style packaging in the main branch), I think it’s useful to distinguish the upstream version (on the main branch) from the Debian packaging version. Related to this, you should specify “-b debian” in the Vcs-Git line so that the correct branch is used.

In Build-Depends, you should drop the version dependency on python3 (even oldoldstable has 3.9), and the alternate dependency on python-docutils.

For extra bonus points, the description could explain what the recommended packages are used for.
    Needs work Stephen Kitt at April 22, 2026, 7:09 p.m. 
  2. Hi, Stephen.

Tarball: Done. The debian dir was excluded from tarballs in the past, just in case someone else wanted to package it for debian while I was still maintaining it for my ubuntu PPA. I have dropped the exclusion.

Branch: Done. The debian branch was specifically for drafts while addressing feedback here, to avoid noise on the main branch for my existing users. My plan was always to merge it into the default branch, which I just did.

Build-Depends: Done. Those older dependency versions were leftovers from when python 3 was relatively new and its presence couldn't safely assumed. I have removed them.

Description: Done. Added a short paragraph explaining each recommended dependency.

See latest upload for these changes.

Thanks for the review!
    Ready Forest at April 22, 2026, 9:13 p.m.

Upload #2

Information

Version: 0.5.1
Uploaded: 2026-01-16 04:27
Source package: joystickwake_0.5.1.dsc
Distribution: unstable
Section: games
Priority:
Homepage: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake
Closes bugs: #1125687

Changelog

 joystickwake (0.5.1) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Initial Debian release. (Closes: #1125687)

QA information

Comments

No comments

Upload #1

Information

Version: 0.5.1
Uploaded: 2026-01-16 01:27
Source package: joystickwake_0.5.1.dsc
Distribution: unstable
Section: games
Priority: optional
Homepage: https://codeberg.org/forestix/joystickwake
Closes bugs: #1125687

Changelog

 joystickwake (0.5.1) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Initial Debian release. (Closes: #1125687)
   * Make setup script compatible with python 3.14.
   * Require python 3.8 or newer.
   * Use f-strings.
   * Use text encoding & context manager in open() calls.
   * Standards-Version: 4.7.2
   * Build-Depends: python3-setuptools

QA information

Comments

  1. d/control:
+debhelper-compat (= 13),
+Standards-Version: 4.7.3

d/changelog:
Please leave only "  * Initial release. (Closes: #1125687)"
    Needs work Alexander Ermakov at Jan. 16, 2026, 3:43 a.m. 
  2. d/source/format:
+3.0 (quilt)
    Needs work Alexander Ermakov at Jan. 16, 2026, 3:46 a.m. 
  3. 1. Done.

2. I don't think source/format 3.0 (quilt) makes sense in this case. It's a native Debian package: I am the upstream developer, the packaging lives in the same repository as the program code, and there is no need for quilt, patches, or an .orig.tar.gz file.
    Ready Forest at Jan. 16, 2026, 5:17 a.m.