DEB-OLD(D)                dpkg utilities               DEB-OLD(D)



NAME
       deb-old - old style Debian binary package format

SYNOPSIS
       filename.deb

DESCRIPTION
       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(b) for details of the new
       format.

FORMAT
       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, con-
       taining pathnames relative to the root  directory  of  the
       system  to  be  installed  on.   The pathnames do not have
       leading slashes.

SEE ALSO
       deb(b), dpkg-deb(b), deb-control(l), Debian Packaging Man-
       ual.



Debian Project             January 2000                DEB-OLD(D)