Package: debian-policy Version: 3.9.2.0 Severity: normal User: debian-pol...@packages.debian.org Usertag: issue
Hi! The current specification for the Description field in §5.6.13 seems to be ambiguous regarding what can or cannot follow the initial characters. It specifies that a line can start with either “a single space” or “two or more spaces”, or contain either “a single space followed by full stop” or “a single space followed by full stop and some more characters”. What does not seem to be clear is if the two first types can optionally have characters following the initial spaces, or if by “starting” it's implied they require them to be “continued”. I've stumbled over this when checking #308082. The problem here is that the binaries in dpkg.deb accept Description lines with just one or more space (w/o anything else). But the scripts in dpkg-dev, lintian or dctrl-tools fail to parse such stanzas, which might be an issue for installed packages, and having this inconsitency even inside dpkg itself is a bit troubling. :) Making dpkg.deb refuse lines with just spaces will imply less changes overall, as several other packages seem to be refusing them already, it's also probably visually less confusing for people when reading control files. thanks, guillem -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
