dgit-maint-{merge,debrebase}(7): Using untagged upstream commits

Closes: #930964
Signed-off-by: Sean Whitton <spwhitton@spwhitton.name>

1 files changed, 30 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/dgit-maint-merge.7.pod b/dgit-maint-merge.7.pod
index 31b0393..0ccd8c7 100644
--- a/dgit-maint-merge.7.pod
+++ b/dgit-maint-merge.7.pod
@@ -120,6 +120,32 @@ upstream's tarball instead of running git-deborig(1).
 
 =back
 
+=head3 Using untagged upstream commits
+
+=over 4
+
+Sometimes upstream does not tag their releases, or you want to package
+an unreleased git snapshot.  In such a case you can create your own
+upstream release tag, of the form B<upstream/>I<ver>, where I<ver> is
+the upstream version you plan to put in I<debian/changelog>.  The
+B<upstream/> prefix ensures that your tag will not clash with any tags
+upstream later creates.
+
+For example, suppose that the latest upstream release is 1.2.2 and you
+want to package git commit ab34c21 which was made on 2013-12-11.  A
+common convention is to use the upstream version number
+1.2.2+git20131211.ab34c21 and so you could use
+
+=over 4
+
+    % git tag -s upstream/1.2.2+git20131211.ab34c21 ab34c21
+
+=back
+
+to obtain a release tag, and then proceed as above.
+
+=back
+
 =head2 When upstream releases only tarballs
 
 We need a virtual upstream branch with virtual release tags.
@@ -340,6 +366,10 @@ to git), you can just run dpkg-buildpackage(1) or debuild(1) instead.
 
 =back
 
+If you want to package an untagged upstream commit (because upstream
+does not tag releases or because you want to package an upstream
+development snapshot), see "Using untagged upstream commits" above.
+
 =head3 When upstream releases only tarballs
 
 You will need the I<debian/gbp.conf> from "When upstream releases only