11

Chapter 3

Binary packages

The Debian GNU/Linux distribution is based on the Debian package management system,

called

dpkg

. Thus, all packages in the Debian distribution must be provided in the

.deb

file

format.

3.1 The package name

Every package must have a name that's unique within the Debian archive.

The package name is included in the control field

Package

, the format of which is described

in `

Package

' on page

31

. The package name is also included as a part of the file name of the

.deb

file.

3.2 The version of a package

Every package has a version number recorded in its

Version

control file field, described in

`

Version

' on page

33

.

The package management system imposes an ordering on version numbers, so that it can tell

whether packages are being up  or downgraded and so that package system front end applica 

tions can tell whether a package it finds available is newer than the one installed on the system.

The version number format has the most significant parts (as far as comparison is concerned)

at the beginning.

If an upstream package has problematic version numbers they should be converted to a sane

form for use in the

Version

field.

3.2.1 Version numbers based on dates

In general, Debian packages should use the same version numbers as the upstream sources.