quinn-diff - Compare a Packages and Sources file

quinn-diff [ options ] [ ... ]

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.

-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 are marked as 'Architecture: all'.

-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.

quinn-diff returns zero on normal operation, non-zero on error.

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.

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.

quinn-diff was written by James Troup <james@nocrew.org>.