DebDiff
Update a package using debdiff
Get the source (using ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu as an example here), and build dependencies
$ pull-lp-source ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu $ sudo apt-get build-dep ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu
This will pull down a few things. We need the source dir where to make changes, and the .dsc file for making the debdiff.
So, let's head to the source dir, and make our changes.
$ cd ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu-67 $ (do your changes to the source)
Edit the changelog to include your changes
$ dch -i
Example of what it looks like initially.
ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu (67ubuntu1) UNRELEASED; urgency=low * -- Kaj Ailomaa <zequence@mousike.me> Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:07:01 +0100
Example of how it could look like after I'm done. Notive I've added a description of the change, replaced "67ubuntu1" with 68, to make it a new version, and set the release name to "raring".
ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu (68) raring; urgency=low * Updated the ubuntustudioslideshow for new release -- Kaj Ailomaa <zequence@mousike.me> Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:07:01 +0100
When you're done, your dir will be renamed to ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu-68. Now, we rebuild the source. This will also sign the dsc and change files.
$ debuild -sa -S
To get the debdiff, we do:
$ cd ../ $ debdiff ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu_67.dsc ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu_68.dsc > ubiquity.debdiff
Now, you need to pass the debdiff to a sponsor who can use it to patch the debian source, and upload the new version to the repo. It's simply a textfile.