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+
+<html>
+
+<head>
+
+<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+
+<title>The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ - The Debian FTP archives</title>
+
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+<p><a name="ch-ftparchives"></a></p>
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">previous</a> ]
+[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">3</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">4</a> ]
+[ 5 ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">6</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">7</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-uptodate.en.html">8</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">9</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">10</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">11</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">12</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-redistrib.en.html">13</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-nexttime.en.html">14</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html">15</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">next</a> ]
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h1>
+The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
+<br>Chapter 5 - The Debian FTP archives
+</h1>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-dirtree"></a>5.1 What are all those directories at the Debian FTP archives?</h2>
+
+<p>
+The software that has been packaged for Debian GNU/Linux is available in one of
+several directory trees on each Debian mirror site.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <samp>dists</samp> directory is short for &quot;distributions&quot;, and it
+is the canonical way to access the currently available Debian releases (and
+pre-releases).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <samp>pool</samp> directory contains the actual packages, see <a
+href="#s-pools">What's in the <samp>pool</samp> directory?, Section 5.10</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are the following supplementary directories:
+</p>
+<dl>
+<dt><em>/tools/</em>:</dt>
+<dd>
+<p>
+DOS utilities for creating boot disks, partitioning your disk drive,
+compressing/decompressing files, and booting Linux.
+</p>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+<dl>
+<dt><em>/doc/</em>:</dt>
+<dd>
+<p>
+The basic Debian documentation, such as the FAQ, the bug reporting system
+instructions, etc.
+</p>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+<dl>
+<dt><em>/indices/</em>:</dt>
+<dd>
+<p>
+The Maintainers file and the override files.
+</p>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+<dl>
+<dt><em>/project/</em>:</dt>
+<dd>
+<p>
+mostly developer-only materials, such as:
+</p>
+<dl>
+<dt><em>project/experimental/</em>:</dt>
+<dd>
+<p>
+This directory contains packages and tools which are still being developed, and
+are still in the alpha testing stage. Users shouldn't be using packages from
+here, because they can be dangerous and harmful even for the most experienced
+people.
+</p>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-dists"></a>5.2 How many Debian distributions are there in the <samp>dists</samp> directory?</h2>
+
+<p>
+There are three distributions, the &quot;stable&quot; distribution, the
+&quot;testing&quot; distribution, and the &quot;unstable&quot; distribution.
+The &quot;testing&quot; distribution is sometimes `frozen' (see <a
+href="#s-frozen">What about &quot;testing&quot;? How is it `frozen'?, Section
+5.6.1</a>).
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-codenames"></a>5.3 What are all those names like slink, potato, etc.?</h2>
+
+<p>
+They are just &quot;codenames&quot;. When a Debian distribution is in the
+development stage, it has no version number but a codename. The purpose of
+these codenames is to make easier the mirroring of the Debian distributions (if
+a real directory like <samp>unstable</samp> suddenly changed its name to
+<samp>stable</samp>, a lot of stuff would have to be needlessly downloaded
+again).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Currently, <samp>stable</samp> is a symbolic link to <samp>sarge</samp> (i.e.
+Debian GNU/Linux 3.1) and <samp>testing</samp> is a symbolic link to
+<samp>etch</samp>. This means that <samp>sarge</samp> is the current stable
+distribution and <samp>etch</samp> is the current testing distribution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<samp>unstable</samp> is a permanent symbolic link to <samp>sid</samp>, as
+<samp>sid</samp> is always the unstable distribution (see <a href="#s-sid">What
+about &quot;sid&quot;?, Section 5.4</a>).
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-oldcodenames"></a>5.3.1 Which other codenames have been used in the past?</h3>
+
+<p>
+Other codenames that have been already used are: <samp>buzz</samp> for release
+1.1, <samp>rex</samp> for release 1.2, <samp>bo</samp> for releases 1.3.x,
+<samp>hamm</samp> for release 2.0, <samp>slink</samp> for release 2.1,
+<samp>potato</samp> for release 2.2 and <samp>woody</samp> for release 3.0.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-sourceforcodenames"></a>5.3.2 Where do these codenames come from?</h3>
+
+<p>
+So far they have been characters taken from the movie &quot;Toy Story&quot; by
+Pixar.
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>buzz</em> (Buzz Lightyear) was the spaceman,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>rex</em> was the tyrannosaurus,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>bo</em> (Bo Peep) was the girl who took care of the sheep,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>hamm</em> was the piggy bank,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>slink</em> (Slinky Dog (R)) was the toy dog,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>potato</em> was, of course, Mr. Potato (R),
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>woody</em> was the cowboy,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>sarge</em> was the sergeant of the Green Plastic Army Men,
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>etch</em> was the toy blackboard (Etch-a-Sketch (R)).
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+<em>sid</em> was the boy next door who destroyed toys.
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-sid"></a>5.4 What about &quot;sid&quot;?</h2>
+
+<p>
+<em>sid</em> or <em>unstable</em> is the place where most of the packages are
+initially uploaded. It will never be released directly, because packages which
+are to be released will first have to be included in <em>testing</em>, in order
+to be released in <em>stable</em> later on. sid contains packages for both
+released and unreleased architectures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The name &quot;sid&quot; also comes from the &quot;Toy Story&quot; animated
+motion picture: Sid was the boy next door who destroyed toys :-)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+[<a href="footnotes.en.html#f1" name="fr1">1</a>]
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-stable"></a>5.5 What does the stable directory contain?</h2>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+stable/main/: This directory contains the packages which formally constitute
+the most recent release of the Debian GNU/Linux system.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These packages all comply with the <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines">Debian Free Software
+Guidelines</a></code>, and are all freely usable and distributable.
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+stable/non-free/: This directory contains packages distribution of which is
+restricted in a way that requires that distributors take careful account of the
+specified copyright requirements.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For example, some packages have licenses which prohibit commercial
+distribution. Others can be redistributed but are in fact shareware and not
+freeware. The licenses of each of these packages must be studied, and possibly
+negotiated, before the packages are included in any redistribution (e.g., in a
+CD-ROM).
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>
+stable/contrib/: This directory contains packages which are DFSG-free and
+<em>freely distributable</em> themselves, but somehow depend on a package that
+is <em>not</em> freely distributable and thus available only in the non-free
+section.
+</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-testing"></a>5.6 What does the testing directory contain?</h2>
+
+<p>
+Packages are installed into the `testing' directory after they have undergone
+some degree of testing in <a href="#s-unstable">unstable</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They must be in sync on all architectures where they have been built and
+mustn't have dependencies that make them uninstallable; they also have to have
+fewer release-critical bugs than the versions currently in testing. This way,
+we hope that `testing' is always close to being a release candidate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More information about the status of &quot;testing&quot; in general and the
+individual packages is available at <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/devel/testing">http://www.debian.org/devel/testing</a></code>
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-frozen"></a>5.6.1 What about &quot;testing&quot;? How is it `frozen'?</h3>
+
+<p>
+When the &quot;testing&quot; distribution is mature enough, the release manager
+starts `freezing' it. The normal propagation delays are increased to ensure
+that as little as possible new bugs from &quot;unstable&quot; enter
+&quot;testing&quot;.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a while, the &quot;testing&quot; distribution becomes truly `frozen'.
+This means that all new packages that are to propagate to the
+&quot;testing&quot; are held back, unless they include release-critical bug
+fixes. The &quot;testing&quot; distribution can also remain in such a deep
+freeze during the so-called `test cycles', when the release is imminent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We keep a record of bugs in the &quot;testing&quot; distribution that can hold
+off a package from being released, or bugs that can hold back the whole
+release. For details, please see <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/releases/testing/">current testing release
+information</a></code>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once that bug count lowers to maximum acceptable values, the frozen
+&quot;testing&quot; distribution is declared &quot;stable&quot; and released
+with a version number.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With each new release, the previous &quot;stable&quot; distribution becomes
+obsolete and moves to the archive. For more information please see <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/distrib/archive">Debian archive</a></code>.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-unstable"></a>5.7 What does the unstable directory contain?</h2>
+
+<p>
+The `unstable' directory contains a snapshot of the current development system.
+Users are welcome to use and test these packages, but are warned about their
+state of readiness. The advantage of using the unstable distribution is that
+you are always up-to-date with the latest in GNU/Linux software industry, but
+if it breaks: you get to keep both parts :-)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are also main, contrib and non-free subdirectories in `unstable',
+separated on the same criteria as in `stable'.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-archsections"></a>5.8 What are all those directories inside <samp>dists/stable/main</samp>?</h2>
+
+<p>
+Within each of the major directory trees[<a href="footnotes.en.html#f2"
+name="fr2">2</a>], there are three sets of subdirectories containing index
+files.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There's one set of <samp>binary-<var>something</var></samp> subdirectories
+which contain index files for binary packages of each available computer
+architecture, for example <samp>binary-i386</samp> for packages which execute
+on Intel x86 PC machines or <samp>binary-sparc</samp> for packages which
+execute on Sun SPARCStations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The complete list of available architectures for each release is available at
+<code><a href="http://www.debian.org/releases/">the release's web
+page</a></code>. For the current release, please see <a
+href="ch-compat.en.html#s-arches">On what hardware architectures/systems does
+Debian GNU/Linux run?, Section 3.1</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The index files in binary-* are called Packages(.gz) and they include a summary
+of each binary package that is included in that distribution. The actual
+binary packages (for <em>woody</em> and subsequent releases) reside in the top
+level <a href="#s-pools"><samp>pool</samp> directory</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Furthermore, there's a subdirectory called source/ which contains index files
+for source packages included in the distribution. The index file is called
+Sources(.gz).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Last but not least, there's a set of subdirectories meant for the installation
+system index files. In the <em>woody</em> release, these are named
+<samp>disks-<var>architecture</var></samp>; in <em>sarge</em>, they are at
+<samp>debian-installer/binary-<var>architecture</var></samp>.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-source"></a>5.9 Where is the source code?</h2>
+
+<p>
+Source code is included for everything in the Debian system. Moreover, the
+license terms of most programs in the system <em>require</em> that source code
+be distributed along with the programs, or that an offer to provide the source
+code accompany the programs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The source code is distributed in the <samp>pool</samp> directory (see <a
+href="#s-pools">What's in the <samp>pool</samp> directory?, Section 5.10</a>)
+together with all the architecture-specific binary directories. To retrieve
+the source code without having to be familiar with the structure of the FTP
+archive, try a command like <samp>apt-get source mypackagename</samp>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some packages are only distributed as source code due to the restrictions in
+their licenses. Notably, one such package is <samp>pine</samp>, see <a
+href="ch-software.en.html#s-pine">Where is pine?, Section 4.10</a> for more
+information.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Source code may or may not be available for packages in the &quot;contrib&quot;
+and &quot;non-free&quot; directories, which are not formally part of the Debian
+system.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-pools"></a>5.10 What's in the <samp>pool</samp> directory?</h2>
+
+<p>
+Packages are kept in a large `pool', structured according to the name of the
+source package. To make this manageable, the pool is subdivided by section
+(`main', `contrib' and `non-free') and by the first letter of the source
+package name. These directories contain several files: the binary packages for
+each architecture, and the source packages from which the binary packages were
+generated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You can find out where each package is placed by executing a command like
+<samp>apt-cache showsrc mypackagename</samp> and looking at the `Directory:'
+line. For example, the <samp>apache</samp> packages are stored in
+<samp>pool/main/a/apache/</samp>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Additionally, since there are so many <samp>lib*</samp> packages, these are
+treated specially: for instance, libpaper packages are stored in
+<samp>pool/main/libp/libpaper/</samp>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+[<a href="footnotes.en.html#f3" name="fr3">3</a>]
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-incoming"></a>5.11 What is &quot;incoming&quot;?</h2>
+
+<p>
+After a developer uploads a package, it stays for a short while in the
+&quot;incoming&quot; directory before it is checked that it's genuine and
+allowed into the archive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Usually nobody should install things from this place. However, in some rare
+cases of emergency, the incoming directory is available at <code><a
+href="http://incoming.debian.org/">http://incoming.debian.org/</a></code>. You
+can manually fetch packages, check the GPG signature and MD5sums in the
+.changes and .dsc files, and then install them.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-ownrepository"></a>5.12 How do I set up my own apt-able repository?</h2>
+
+<p>
+If you have built some private Debian packages which you'd like to install
+using the standard Debian package management tools, you can set up your own
+apt-able package archive. This is also useful if you'd like to share your
+Debian packages while these are not distributed by the Debian project.
+Instructions on how to do this are given in the <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/repository-howto/repository-howto">Debian
+Repository HOWTO</a></code>.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">previous</a> ]
+[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">3</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">4</a> ]
+[ 5 ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">6</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">7</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-uptodate.en.html">8</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">9</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">10</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">11</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">12</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-redistrib.en.html">13</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-nexttime.en.html">14</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html">15</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">next</a> ]
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
+</p>
+
+<address>
+version 3.1.3, 25 April 2006<br>
+<br>
+Authors are listed at <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors">Debian FAQ Authors</a><br>
+<br>
+</address>
+<hr>
+
+</body>
+
+</html>
+