"apt-get source" should warn when sources cannot be built using debuild or dpkg-buildpackage.

[Bob Vincent]

For context see comments 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, and 21 of:
    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/oneiric/+source/packagekit/+bug/847591

In lines 2425-2435 of cmdline/apt-get.cc I see:

         ioprintf(c1out, _("NOTICE: '%s' packaging is maintained in "
                           "the '%s' version control system at:\n"
                           "%s\n"),
                  Src.c_str(), vcs.c_str(), uri.c_str());
         if(vcs == "Bzr")
            ioprintf(c1out,_("Please use:\n"
                             "bzr branch %s\n"
                             "to retrieve the latest (possibly unreleased) "
                             "updates to the package.\n"),
                     uri.c_str());
         break;

So when running "apt-get source SOMEPACKAGE" I am sometimes warned to use "bzr branch" instead.

Sometimes I am warned to use "git clone" or "svn checkout", but I can't find the code for this in the apt package; maybe it is located elsewhere?

At any rate, I was recently advised that for packages stored in git repositories, I should (sometimes) use "git-buildpackage" instead of "debuild binary" or "dpkg-buildpackage" to build from source.

At the risk of making Ubuntu dangerously user-friendly, I suggest that the same code that warns to check out from a repository should also advise that non-standard build tools may be needed, or at least point to a documentation page somewhere that lists the various possibilities.

[šumski (schumski-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

"Sometimes I am warned to use "git clone" or "svn checkout", but I can't find the code for this in the apt package; maybe it is located elsewhere?"

This line is in debian/control file
---
Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/BugSquad

[Torsten Spindler (tspindler)]

It would be nice if apt could deduce that information from the source package file. Unfortunately developer time for such a feature is certainly limited, so I mark this bug as wishlist.