OS Setup

Depending on the system you're on (normally either Debian or Ubuntu), OS Setup for each operating system differs slightly. In here, we'll do each operating system in sub-section manner.

Debian and Ubuntu

You'll need to install the following packages before you start building deb package.

$ sudo apt install build-essential fakeroot devscripts gnupg ubuntu-dev-tools apt-file -y

Additionally, you can install all the packages listed in Debian New Maintainer Guide - 1.2 Program needed for development.

Once you're done, cross-check the lintian known distributions contains the latest list of distribution series. They are located at:

If you're on Debian, looking for Debian -/usr/share/lintian/data/changes-file/known-dists
If you're on Debian, looking for Ubuntu - /usr/share/lintian/vendors/ubuntu/main/data/changes-file/known-dists
If you're on Ubuntu, looking for Debian - /usr/share/lintian/vendors/debian/main/data/changes-file/known-dists
If you're on Ubuntu, looking for Ubuntu - /usr/share/lintian/data/changes-file/known-dists

The series are available at:

Debian - https://launchpad.net/debian (e.g. sid, stretch, jessie)
Ubuntu - https://launchpad.net/ubuntu (e.g. cosmic, trusty, xenial)

If they're outdated, based on the documentation, you can proceed to create a localized data file to update it. You can create in this path:

$ mkdir -p $HOME/.lintian/vendors/PROFILENAME/main/data/changes-file/

$ touch $HOME/.lintian/vendors/PROFILENAME/main/data/changes-file/known-dists

NOTE:

Please **DO NOT EDIT** the parent file.
You must match the directory beyond the vendors/ path and naming. Otherwise, it won't work. E.g. says the ubuntu vendor path:
- /usr/share/lintian/vendors/ubuntu/main/data/changes-file/known-dists
- $HOME/.lintian/vendors/ubuntu/main/data/changes-file/known-dists

Edit the $HOME/.lintian/vendors/PROFILENAME/main/data/changes-file/known-dists, and add the list of your supported distributions. You can add your cross-distributions like debian stable, unstable etc.

# your supporting list of series/distribution

bionic

stable # debian

sid # debian