Chapter 5. Control files and their fields

32

all

, which indicates an architecture independent package.

any

, which indicates a package available for building on any architecture.

source

, which indicates a source package.

In the main

debian/control

file in the source package, or in the source package control file

.dsc

, one may specify a list of architectures separated by spaces, or the special values

any

or

all

.

Specifying

any

indicates that the source package isn't dependent on any particular architec 

ture and should compile fine on any one. The produced binary package(s) will be specific to

whatever the current build architecture is.

4

Specifying a list of architectures indicates that the source will build an architecture dependent

package, and will only work correctly on the listed architectures.

5

In a

.changes

file, the

Architecture

field lists the architecture(s) of the package(s) currently

being uploaded. This will be a list; if the source for the package is also being uploaded, the

special entry

source

is also present.

See `Main building script:

debian/rules

' on page

23

for information how to get the archi 

tecture for the build process.

5.6.9

Essential

This is a boolean field which may occur only in the control file of a binary package or in a

per package fields paragraph of a main source control data file.

If set to

yes

then the package management system will refuse to remove the package (upgrad 

ing and replacing it is still possible). The other possible value is

no

, which is the same as not

having the field at all.

5.6.10 Package interrelationship fields:

Depends

,

Pre Depends

,

Recommends

,

Suggests

,

Conflicts

,

Provides

,

Replaces

,

Enhances

These fields describe the package's relationships with other packages. Their syntax and se 

mantics are described in `Declaring relationships between packages' on page

45

.

5.6.11

Standards Version

The most recent version of the standards (the policy manual and associated texts) with which

the package complies.

4

This is the most often used setting, and is recommended for new packages that aren't

Architecture:

all

.

5

This is a setting used for a minority of cases where the program is not portable. Generally, it should not be

used for new packages.