dgit 4.2, which is now in Debian unstable, has a new subcommand: dgit push-source. This is just like dgit push, except that

• it forces a source-only upload; and
• it also takes care of preparing the _source.changes, transparently, without the user needing to run dpkg-buildpackage -S or dgit build-source or whatever.

push-source is useful to ensure you don’t accidently upload binaries, and that was its original motivation. But there is a deeper significance to this new command: to say

% dgit push-source unstable

is, in one command, basically to say

% git push ftp-master HEAD:unstable

That is: dgit push-source is like doing a single-step git push of your git HEAD straight into the archive! The future is now!

The contrast here is with ordinary dgit push, which is not analogous to a single git push command, because

• it involves uploading .debs, which make a material change to the archive other than updating the source code of the package; and
• it must be preceded by a call to dpkg-buildpackage, dgit sbuild or similar to prepare the .changes file.

While dgit push-source also involves uploading files to ftp-master in addition to the git push, because that happens transparently and does not require the user to run a build command, it can be thought of as an implementation detail.

Two remaining points of disanalogy:

1. git push will push your HEAD no matter the state of the working tree, but dgit push-source has to clean your working tree. I’m thinking about ways to improve this.

2. For non-native packages, you still need an orig.tar in ... Urgh. At least that’s easy to obtain thanks to git-deborig.

If you are a Debian Maintainer (DM) or Debian Developer (DD) doing source-only uploads to Debian for packages maintained in git, you are probably using some variation of the following:

% # sbuild/pbuilder, install and test the final package
% # everything looks good
% dch -r
% git commit debian/changelog "Finalise 1.2.3-1 upload"
% gbp buildpackage -S --git-tag
% debsign -S
% dput ftp-master ../foo_1.2.3-1_source.changes
% git push --follow-tags origin master

where the origin remote is probably salsa.debian.org. Please consider replacing the above with the following:

% # sbuild/pbuilder, install and test the final package
% # everything looks good
% dch -r
% git commit debian/changelog "Finalise 1.2.3-1 upload"
% dgit push-source --gbp
% git push --follow-tags origin master

where the dgit push-source call does the following:

1. Various sanity checks, some of which are not performed by any other tools, such as
   • not accidently overwriting an NMU.
   • not missing the .orig.tar from your upload
   • ensuring that the Distribution field in your changes is the same as your changelog
2. Builds a source package from your git HEAD.
3. Signs the .changes and .dsc.
4. dputs these to ftp-master.
5. Pushes your git history to dgit-repos.

Why might you want to do this? Well,

1. You don’t need to learn how to use dgit for any other parts of your workflow. It’s entirely drop-in.
   • Assuming that your repository has upstream source committed with patches unapplied, and there is at least one quilt patch, dgit will not make any merge commits on your master branch, or anything surprising like that.
2. No-one else in your team is required to use dgit. Nothing about their workflow need change.
3. Benefit from dgit’s sanity checks.
4. Provide your git history on dgit-repos in a uniform format that is easier for users, NMUers and downstreams to use (see dgit-user(7) and dgit-simple-nmu(7)).
   • Note that this is independent of the history you push to alioth/salsa. You still need to push to salsa as before, and assuming that your repository has upstream source committed with patches unapplied and there is at least one quilt patch, the format of that history is not changed.
5. Only a single command is required to perform the source-only upload, instead of three.

Hints

1. If you’re using git dpm you’ll want --dpm instead of --gbp.
2. If the last upload of the package was not performed with dgit (e.g. this is your first upload using dgit), you’ll need to pass --overwrite. dgit will tell you if you need this. This is to avoid accidently excluding the changes in NMUs.

A few comments on Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Vice Admiral Holdo’s subplot was a huge success. She had to make a very difficult call over which she knew she might face a mutiny from the likes of Poe Dameron. The core of her challenge was that there was no speech or argument she could have given that would have placated Dameron and restored unity to the crew. Instead, Holdo had to press on in the face of that disunity. This reflects the fact that, sometimes, living as one should demands pressing on in the face deep disagreement with others.

Not making it clear that Dameron was in the wrong until very late in the film was a key component of the successful portrayal of the unpleasantness of what Holdo had to do. If instead it had become clear to the audience early on that Holdo’s plan was obviously the better one, we would not have been able to observe the strength of Holdo’s character in continuing to pursue her plan despite the mutiny.

One thing that I found weak about Holdo was her dress. You cannot be effective on the frontlines of a hot war in an outfit like that! Presumably the point was to show that women don’t have to give up their femininity in order to take tough tactical decisions under pressure, and that’s indeed something worth showing. But this could have been achieved by much more subtle means. What was needed was to have her be the character with the most feminine outfit, and it would have been possible to fulfill that condition by having her wear something much more practical. Thus, having her wear that dress was crude and implausible overkill in the service of something otherwise worth doing.

I was very disappointed by most of the subplot with Rey and Luke: both the content of that subplot, and its disconnection from the rest of film.

Firstly, the content. There was so much that could have been explored that was not explored. Luke mentions that the Jedi failed to stop Darth Sidious “at the height of their powers”. Well, what did the Jedi get wrong? Was it the Jedi code; the celibacy; the bureaucracy? Is their light side philosophy to absolutist? How are Luke’s beliefs about this connected to his recent rejection of the Force? When he lets down his barrier and reconnects with the force, Yoda should have had much more to say. The Force is, perhaps, one big metaphor for certain human capacities not emphasised by our contemporary culture. It is at the heart of Star Wars, and it was at the heart of Empire and Rogue One. It ought to have been at the heart of The Last Jedi.

Secondly, the lack of integration with the rest of the film. One of the aspects of Empire that enables its importance as a film, I suggest, is the tight integration and interplay between the two main subplots: the training of Luke under Yoda, and attempting to shake the Empire off the trail of the Millennium Falcon. Luke wants to leave the training unfinished, and Yoda begs him to stay, truly believing that the fate of the galaxy depends on him completing the training. What is illustrated by this is the strengths and weaknesses of both Yoda’s traditional Jedi view and Luke’s desire to get on with fighting the good fight, the latter of which is summed up by the binary sunset scene from A New Hope. Tied up with this desire is Luke’s love for his friends; this is an important strength of his, but Yoda has a point when he says that the Jedi training must be completed if Luke is to be ultimately succesful. While the Yoda subplot and what happens at Cloud City could be independently interesting, it is only this integration that enables the film to be great. The heart of the integration is perhaps the Dark Side Cave, where two things are brought together: the challenge of developing the relationship with oneself possessed by a Jedi, and the threat posed by Darth Vader.

In the Last Jedi, Rey just keeps saying that the galaxy needs Luke, and eventually Luke relents when Kylo Ren shows up. There was so much more that could have been done with this! What is it about Rey that enables her to persuade Luke? What character strengths of hers are able to respond adequately to Luke’s fear of the power of the Force, and doubt regarding his abilities as a teacher? Exploring these things would have connected together the rebel evacuation, Rey’s character arc and Luke’s character arc, but these three were basically independent.

(Possibly I need to watch the cave scene from The Last Jedi again, and think harder about it.)

Looks like there won’t be a release of Policy this month, but please consider contributing so we can get one out next month. Here’s a selection of bugs:

Consensus has been reached and help is needed to write a patch

#685746 debian-policy Consider clarifying the use of recommends

#749826 [multiarch] please document the use of Multi-Arch field in debian/c…

#757760 please document build profiles

#759316 Document the use of /etc/default for cron jobs

#761219 document versioned Provides

#767839 Linking documentation of arch:any package to arch:all

#770440 policy should mention systemd timers

#793499 The Installed-Size algorithm is out-of-date

#823256 Update maintscript arguments with dpkg >= 1.18.5

#835451 Building as root should be discouraged

#853779 Clarify requirements about update-rc.d and invoke-rc.d usage in mai…

#874206 allow a trailing comma in package relationship fields

Wording proposed, awaiting review from anyone and/or seconds by DDs

#582109 document triggers where appropriate

#610083 Remove requirement to document upstream source location in debian/c…

#649530 [copyright-format] clearer definitions and more consistent License:…

#662998 stripping static libraries

#682347 mark ‘editor’ virtual package name as obsolete

#737796 copyright-format: support Files: paragraph with both abbreviated na…

#742364 Document debian/missing-sources

#756835 Extension of the syntax of the Packages-List field.

#786470 [copyright-format] Add an optional “License-Grant” field

#835451 Building as root should be discouraged

#845255 Include best practices for packaging database applications

#846970 Proposal for a Build-Indep-Architecture: control file field

#864615 please update version of posix standard for scripts (section 10.4)

Merged for the next release

#299007 Transitioning perms of /usr/local

#515856 remove get-orig-source

#886890 Fix for found typos

#888437 Several example scripts are not valid.