NAME
quinn-diff - Compare a Packages and Sources file
SYNOPSIS
quinn-diff [ options ] [ ... ]
DESCRIPTION
quinn-diff compares a Sources file and a Packages files to determine
which programs need (re)compiled from source for any given
architecture.
quinn-diff knows about architecture specific packages (e.g. lilo) and
can easily exclude them via a Packages-arch-specific file. The output
is a list of source packages complete with accurate section and version
information, suitable for use in build daemons or just in a script to
auto-snarf the necessary source.
OPTIONS
-a/--arch-specific-packages=file
Specify the location of the Packages-arch-specific file. The
default is /etc/Packages-arch-specific.
-A/--architecture=architecture
Specify the architecture of the Packages file. If this option
is not given, quinn-diff will try to determine the architecture
from the contents of the Packages file.
-D/--debug=octal value
Enable debug output; see -Dhelp or --debug=help for details on
possible values.
-h/--help
Display usage help and then exit.
-i/--ignore-arch-all
If this option is enabled quinn-diff will ignore source packages
which contain all in their architecture list, but not the
current architecture.
-p/--packages=file
Specify the location of the Packages file. The default is
Packges in the current directory.
-s/--sources=file
Specify the location of the Sources file. The default is
Sources in the current directory.
-w/--warn-older
If this option is enabled quinn-diff will warn when a package is
newer in the Packages file than it is in the Sources file.
-V/--version
Display the version number and then exit.
DIAGNOSTICS
quinn-diff returns zero on normal operation, non-zero on error.
BUGS
The most obvious known problem is that quinn-diff trusts the Binary:
field from the Sources file which is not a good idea. However this
affects only a small number of packages and is non-trivial to fix.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to NoCrew for providing unrewarding and generous
donation of network services; without them I wouldn’t have had an FTP
site, a web site, CVS or AnonCVS.
AUTHOR
quinn-diff was written by James Troup <james@nocrew.org>.
21 March 2010