lintian-brush

This package contains a set of scripts to automatically fix some common issues in Debian packages.

Running lintian-brush

Simply run::

lintian-brush

in the top-level of your (version controlled) Debian package.

.. _supported-tags:

Supported tags

The current set of lintian tags for which a fixer is available that can fix a subset of the issues:

• adopted-extended-field
• ancient-python-version-field
• ancient-standards-version
• autotools-pkg-config-macro-not-cross-compilation-safe
• build-depends-on-build-essential
• build-depends-on-obsolete-package
• built-using-field-on-arch-all-package
• carriage-return-line-feed
• comma-separated-files-in-dep5-copyright
• copyright-does-not-refer-to-common-license-file
• copyright-file-contains-full-apache-2-license
• copyright-file-contains-full-gfdl-license
• copyright-file-contains-full-gpl-license
• copyright-has-crs
• copyright-not-using-common-license-for-apache2
• copyright-not-using-common-license-for-gfdl
• copyright-not-using-common-license-for-gpl
• copyright-not-using-common-license-for-lgpl
• copyright-refers-to-symlink-license
• copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file
• custom-compression-in-debian-source-options
• cute-field
• debhelper-but-no-misc-depends
• debhelper-tools-from-autotools-dev-are-deprecated
• debian-changelog-file-contains-obsolete-user-emacs-settings
• debian-changelog-has-wrong-day-of-week
• debian-changelog-line-too-long
• debian-control-has-empty-field
• debian-control-has-obsolete-dbg-package
• debian-control-has-unusual-field-spacing
• debian-pycompat-is-obsolete
• debian-pyversions-is-obsolete
• debian-rules-calls-pwd
• debian-rules-contains-unnecessary-get-orig-source-target
• debian-rules-missing-recommended-target
• debian-rules-not-executable
• debian-rules-parses-dpkg-parsechangelog
• debian-rules-sets-dpkg-architecture-variable
• debian-rules-uses-as-needed-linker-flag
• debian-rules-uses-special-shell-variable
• debian-rules-uses-unnecessary-dh-argument
• debian-tests-control-and-control-autodep8
• debian-tests-control-autodep8-is-obsolete
• debian-upstream-obsolete-path
• debian-watch-contains-dh_make-template
• debian-watch-does-not-check-openpgp-signature
• debian-watch-file-is-missing
• debian-watch-file-pubkey-file-is-missing
• debian-watch-file-uses-deprecated-githubredir
• debian-watch-uses-insecure-uri
• debug-symbol-migration-possibly-complete
• declares-possibly-conflicting-debhelper-compat-versions
• dep5-file-paragraph-references-header-paragraph
• desktop-entry-contains-encoding-key
• desktop-entry-file-has-crs
• dh-clean-k-is-deprecated
• dh-quilt-addon-but-quilt-source-format
• dm-upload-allowed-is-obsolete
• empty-debian-tests-control
• excessive-priority-for-library-package
• executable-desktop-file
• extended-description-contains-empty-paragraph
• extended-description-is-empty
• faulty-debian-qa-group-phrase
• field-name-typo-in-dep5-copyright
• font-package-not-multi-arch-foreign
• global-files-wildcard-not-first-paragraph-in-dep5-copyright
• homepage-field-uses-insecure-uri
• homepage-in-binary-package
• initial-upload-closes-no-bugs
• insecure-copyright-format-uri
• installable-field-mirrors-source
• invalid-short-name-in-dep5-copyright
• invalid-standards-version
• libmodule-build-perl-needs-to-be-in-build-depends
• license-file-listed-in-debian-copyright
• maintainer-also-in-uploaders
• maintainer-script-empty
• maintainer-script-without-set-e
• malformed-dm-upload-allowed
• malformed-override
• mismatched-override
• missing-build-dependency-for-dh-addon
• missing-build-dependency-for-dh_-command
• missing-built-using-field-for-golang-package
• missing-debian-source-format
• missing-prerequisite-for-pyproject-backend
• missing-vcs-browser-field
• misspelled-closes-bug
• new-package-uses-date-based-version-number
• no-copyright-file
• no-homepage-field
• no-versioned-debhelper-prerequisite
• obsolete-debian-watch-file-standard
• obsolete-field-in-dep5-copyright
• obsolete-runtime-tests-restriction
• obsolete-url-in-packaging
• obsolete-vim-addon-manager
• old-dpmt-vcs
• old-fsf-address-in-copyright-file
• old-papt-vcs
• old-source-override-location
• older-debian-watch-file-standard
• older-source-format
• out-of-date-copyright-format-uri
• out-of-date-standards-version
• package-contains-linda-override
• package-uses-deprecated-debhelper-compat-version
• package-uses-old-debhelper-compat-version
• patch-file-present-but-not-mentioned-in-series
• pkg-js-tools-test-is-missing
• possible-missing-colon-in-closes
• priority-extra-is-replaced-by-priority-optional
• public-upstream-key-in-native-package
• public-upstream-key-not-minimal
• public-upstream-keys-in-multiple-locations
• pypi-homepage
• python-teams-merged
• quilt-series-but-no-build-dep
• quilt-series-without-trailing-newline
• recommended-field
• renamed-tag
• required-field
• rubygem-homepage
• silent-on-rules-requiring-root
• space-in-std-shortname-in-dep5-copyright
• systemd-service-alias-without-extension
• systemd-service-file-refers-to-obsolete-bindto
• systemd-service-file-refers-to-obsolete-target
• systemd-service-file-refers-to-var-run
• systemd-service-file-shutdown-problems
• tab-in-license-text
• team/pkg-perl/testsuite/no-testsuite-header
• team/pkg-perl/vcs/no-git
• team/pkg-perl/vcs/no-team-url
• trailing-whitespace
• transitional-package-not-oldlibs-optional
• typo-in-debhelper-override-target
• unnecessary-team-upload
• unnecessary-testsuite-autopkgtest-field
• unused-build-dependency-on-cdbs
• unused-license-paragraph-in-dep5-copyright
• unused-override
• unversioned-copyright-format-uri
• uploaders-in-orphan
• upstream-metadata-file-is-missing
• upstream-metadata-in-native-source
• upstream-metadata-missing-bug-tracking
• upstream-metadata-missing-repository
• upstream-metadata-not-yaml-mapping
• upstream-metadata-yaml-invalid
• useless-autoreconf-build-depends
• uses-debhelper-compat-file
• uses-deprecated-adttmp
• vcs-field-bitrotted
• vcs-field-mismatch
• vcs-field-not-canonical
• vcs-field-uses-insecure-uri
• vcs-field-uses-not-recommended-uri-format
• vcs-obsolete-in-debian-infrastructure
• wrong-section-according-to-package-name

.. _writing-fixers:

Writing new fixers

For a more extensive write-up, see the guide on writing fixers.

Ideally, fixers target a particular set of lintian tags. This is not strictly required, but makes it possible to easily find all packages that a particular fixer can be used on.

Each fixer is a simple script that lives under fixers. Scripts should be registered in the index.desc file in the same directory.

A fixer is run in the root directory of a package, where it can make changes it deems necessary. If a fixer can not provide any improvements, it can simply leave the working tree untouched - lintian-brush will not create any commits for it or update the changelog. If exits with a non-zero return code, whatever changes it has made will be discarded and the fixer will be reported as having failed.

The following additional environment variables are set:

• DEB_SOURCE: The name of the source package that is being edited.
• CURRENT_VERSION: Package version that is being edited.
• COMPAT_RELEASE: Debian release to be compatible with. Usually sid when --modern was specified and the name of the current stable release otherwise.
• NET_ACCESS: Whether the fixer is allowed to make network connections (e.g. sending HTTP requests). Used by --disable-net-access and the testsuite. Set to either allow or disallow.
• OPINIONATED: Set to yes or no. If no, fixers are not expected to make changes in which there is no obvious single correct fix.

For fixer written in python, the lintian_brush.fixer module can be used for convenient access to these variables.

A fixer should write a short description of the changes it has made to standard out; this will be used for the commit message.

It can include optional metadata in its output::

• Fixed-Lintian-Tags: followed by a comma-separated list of lintian tags that it claims to have fixed. This will make lintian-brush include links to documentation about the fixed lintian tags. In the future, it may also support building the package to verify the lintian tag is actually resolved.

• Certainty: followed by certain, confident, likely or possible, indicating how certain the fixer is that the fix was the right one.

The default minimum certainty level is "certain"; any incorrect change made with certainty "certain" is considered at least a normal-severity bug.

The easiest way to test fixers is to create a skeleton in and out source tree under tests/FIXER-NAME/TEST-NAME. The in directory should contain the tree to run the fixer on, and out contains the directory after it has run. It's fine to create directories with only one or two control files, if the fixer only needs those. To run the tests for a single fixer, you can use "make check-fixer-$NAME".

GitHub Action

If you're hosting a Git repository on GitHub, you can use the lintian-brush GitHub action to automatically run lintian-brush.