Synopsis

 grip-overridereplace.pl -s|--suite STRING -b|--base-path PATH [-c|--component COMPONENT] [--grip-name STRING] BINARIES ...
 grip-overridereplace.pl -?|-h|--help|--version
 Commands:
 -s|--suite STRING:        Name of the distribution to override [required]
 -b|--base-path PATH:      path to the top level repository directory [required]
 -?|-h|--help|--version:   print this help message and exit
 Options:
    --grip-name STRING:    alternative name for the grip repository
 -c|--component COMPONENT: Section override from the Debian Packages file.

Only the specified binary package(s) will be affected, each architecture in turn. Packages are copied out of pool/ into a temporary directory, removed and then replaced into the architecture concerned.

Overrides take place in the Packages file, not within the binary package itself - check the results by parsing the relevant Packages file, not using the output of dpkg -I $deb or other .deb tools.

Note that overrides will need to be enacted for the versions in testing as well, so repeat the process once you are happy with the effects.

Components that are supported by reprepro are read from the .deb Section field but this can sometimes be out of step with the Section set by the Debian ftp-master in the Packages file. Use the "--component" option to set a particular Section. If the relevant component has not been configured in reprepro for the Section name, "main" will be used instead.

Description

Overrides need to be updated from time to time so this script provides a way to implement overrides restrospectively.

Section / component overrides are read from the filter repository Packages file - use the "--component" option to set other values. If the component has not been configured in reprepro, "main" is used instead.

Override usage with reprepro

Sections are not particularly reliable and may disappear completely in future releases of Debian. Some packages are in the wrong sections and will cause problems for users if left unchanged. One example is "xulrunner-1.9" which is an important dependency of iceweasel (the Debian flavour of Firefox) but xulrunner-1.9 is "Section: devel" for an unknown reason. To prevent the need for every Grip user to need the "dev" repository to get a working web browser, an override is set in the reprepro configuration. (See reprepro (1)).

Add the name of the override file to the distribution by editing conf/distributions:

 Origin: Debian
 Label: EmdebianGrip
 Suite: unstable
 Codename: sid
 ...
 DebOverride: override.sid.main

In the override file, set a more usable Section:

 xulrunner-1.9 Section web
 geany Section editors

It's worth setting a real Section (rather than assuming "main") in case that component is added at a later date.

grip-overridereplace.pl will then use that override to allow the package to be moved back from "dev" into "main" and reprepro will use the override file for future updates.

Copyright and Licence

 Copyright (C) 2007-2009  Neil Williams <[email protected]>
 This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
 (at your option) any later version.
 
 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 GNU General Public License for more details.
 
 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.