Some notes from the WLUG meeting on Debian and packaging:
To create Debian packages, install:
dpkg-dev, file, gcc, g++, libc6-dev, make, patch, perl, dh-make, debhelper, fakeroot, gnupg and lintian.
Investigate package with dpkg --info file, dpkg --contents file and lintian file
The official reference for package building is the "Debian New Maintainer's Guide", available at http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/
3 pages link to DebianPackaging: