deb-origin(5)

📦
version 1.23.11 · 21 versions
, in arch rolling

💅 deb-origin(5) — vendor tea, served fresh

okay bestie, this is the manual page for deb-origin, part of the dpkg suite, and it's literally the file format that tells everyone who is shipping your Debian packages. let's get into it 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

/etc/dpkg/origins/filename

that's the whole vibe. a file, in a directory. slay.

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the files chillin' in /etc/dpkg/origins are all about giving you the deets on the various vendors that are providing Debian packages. think of it as the vendor's little ID card 💖

these files usually do double duty:

  • they determine the behavior of tools and the resulting contents during package builds that target a specific vendor
  • and they describe the provenance of packages (iykyk, it's the receipts 🧾)

packages can explicitly declare their vendor by including an Origin field. no Origin field? then the vendor for that package is assumed to be the one pointed to by the default origin symbolic link. periodt.

inside these files you've got a bunch of fields, or comments when the line starts with #. every field begins with a tag — like Vendor or Parent — followed by a colon and then the body of the field. and this is the important part, so listen up: fields are delimited only by field tags. in other words, field text may be multiple lines in length, but the tools will join those lines when processing the body of the field. so don't panic, the multiline thing is fine 🫶

🦋 the naming situation

the file should be named according to the vendor name. the usual convention is to name the vendor file using the vendor name in all lowercase, but some variation is permitted ✨

namely (since dpkg 1.21.10), here's the whole little algorithm, lowkey iconic:

  1. first, non-alphanumeric characters ([^A-Za-z0-9]) are mapped to dashes (-)
  2. then the resulting name will be tried in sequence by:
    • lower-casing it
    • keeping it as is
    • lower-casing then capitalizing it (that is, upper-casing the first character)
    • and only capitalizing it

so yeah, it's out here trying every fit until one of them serves 💅

👑 FIELDS 👑

Vendor: vendor-name (required)

the value of this field determines the vendor name. this one's required, bestie — no skipping it, that's the whole main character right there 💀

Vendor-URL: vendor-url

the value of this field determines the vendor URL. link in bio energy 🔗

Bugs: bug-url

the value of this field determines the type and address of the bug tracking system used by this vendor. it can be a mailto URL or a debbugs URL (e.g., debbugs://bugs.debian.org/). so you can either email your complaints or file them properly, your call 😭

Parent: vendor-name

the value of this field determines the vendor name of the vendor that this vendor derives from. it's giving family tree 🌳

🌈 EXAMPLE 🌈

Vendor: Debian
Vendor-URL: https://www.debian.org/
Bugs: debbugs://bugs.debian.org

look at that. clean. minimal. ate and left no crumbs 🍓

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

🫶 quick vibe check reminder: keep the Vendor field, use # for comments, and remember the fields only end when a new tag shows up. that's the whole rule, no cap.

and that's the page, bestie 💖 this was deb-origin(5) from the dpkg suite, version 1.23.11-dirty, dated 2026-09-09. go forth and vendor responsibly 🧚✨

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