Definition

What is a patch? A patch is a change to an Ubuntu package that will resolve a bug report. These include but are not necessarily limited to:

• changes to the packaging of an Ubuntu package
• changes to the source code included in an Ubuntu package

These changes can come in various different formats:

• a diff - text file of differences between the original file and changed file

diff -Nurp ciso-1.0.0/ciso.c ciso-1.0.0-fixed/ciso.c
--- ciso-1.0.0/ciso.c   2006-11-03 12:53:29.000000000 -0800
+++ ciso-1.0.0-fixed/ciso.c     2008-11-27 10:09:19.000000000 -0800
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
 #include <zlib.h>               /* /usr(/local)/include/zlib.h */
 #include <zconf.h>
 
diff -Nurp ciso-1.0.0/ciso.h ciso-1.0.0-fixed/ciso.h
--- ciso-1.0.0/ciso.h   2006-11-03 12:53:02.000000000 -0800
+++ ciso-1.0.0-fixed/ciso.h     2008-11-27 13:32:01.000000000 -0800
@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@
 typedef struct ciso_header
 {
        unsigned char magic[4];                 /* +00 : 'C','I','S','O'                 */
-       unsigned long header_size;              /* +04 : header size (==0x18)            */
+       uint32_t header_size;           /* +04 : header size (==0x18)            */
        unsigned long long total_bytes; /* +08 : number of original data size    */
-       unsigned long block_size;               /* +10 : number of compressed block size */
+       uint32_t block_size;            /* +10 : number of compressed block size */
        unsigned char ver;                              /* +14 : version 01                      */
        unsigned char align;                    /* +15 : align of index value            */
        unsigned char rsv_06[2];                /* +16 : reserved                        */

• a debdiff - text file of differences between two Ubuntu package versions
  • Example
• image files - in the event a package is missing a menu icon

Process

How do patches end up in Ubuntu packages? Lets look at the process in reverse, from the actually upload to a patch being added to a pbug report.

1. The last step for a bug report with a patch to be fixed is for it to be sponsored to the appropriate archive

   • There are two sponsorship queues one for packages in the main and restricted repositories and one for packages in the universe and multiverse repositories

   • Bug reports end up in the sponsorship queue by having the appropriate team subscribed (NOT assigned) to the bug report - ubuntu-main-sponsors or ubuntu-universe-sponsors
   • Can only bugs with debdiffs have the sponsor teams subscribed?
2. Before being sponsored bug reports should be identified as having patches or not
   • There is a flag for attachments to indicate whether or not they are a patch
     • screenshot

   • Bugs with patches then show up in Launchpad searches and in harvest

   • These patches should be converted into debdiffs and have the appropriate teams subscribed