NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       deb-old - old style Debian binary package format

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       filename.deb

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       The  .deb format is the Debian binary package file format.  This manual
       page describes the old format, used before  Debian  0.93.   Please  see
       deb(5) for details of the new format.

FORMAT    [Toc]    [Back]

       The  file is two lines of format information as ASCII text, followed by
       two concatenated gzipped ustar files.

       The first line is the format version number padded to 8 digits, and  is
       0.939000 for all old-format archives.

       The second line is a decimal string (without leading zeroes) giving the
       length of the first gzipped tarfile.

       Each of these lines is terminated with a single newline character.

       The first tarfile contains the control  information,  as  a  series  of
       ordinary files, described in Debian Packaging Manual, section 2.2.  The
       file control must be present, as it contains the core control  information.


       In some very old archives, the files in the control tarfile may optionally
 be in a DEBIAN subdirectory. In that case, the DEBIAN subdirectory
       will  be  in the control tarfile too, and the control tarfile will have
       only files in that directory.  Optionally the control tarfile may  contain
 an entry for `.', that is, the current directory.

       The  second gzipped tarfile is the filesystem archive, containing pathnames
 relative to the root directory of the system to be installed  on.
       The pathnames do not have leading slashes.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       deb(5), dpkg-deb(1), deb-control(5), Debian Packaging Manual.



Debian Project			 January 2000			    DEB-OLD(5)