How to write a package (developed on Ubuntu 9.10) for installation on a Debian server

I hav开发者_如何学Pythone written a number of applications and libraries (some of which depend on third party libraies), on my home workstation (Ubuntu 9.10).

I now want to create packages (one package per application/library), so that I may then install them on my server, which will be running Debian OS.

Any guidelines/gotchas on how to go about creating installation packages for debian on Ubuntu?

You can have a look at one of my projects on GitHub (here) : the makefile generates a package that can be uploaded to Launchpad (a platform for hosting Debian packages). Look at the targets of the makefile to understand the process.

First, be aware that although Ubuntu and Debian use the same packaging system, a package built for one might not work properly on the other due to differences in installed shared libraries. If you're packaging compiled code, you might want to keep a Debian virtual machine around (perhaps using VirtualBox) to rebuild your package for Debian once you're satisfied with it on your Ubuntu workstation.

That being said, there is a wealth of documentation available on deb packaging. Keep in mind while reading it that it's mostly aimed at people who are packaging someone else's code. Since you're both the developer and the packager, you have the luxury of creating Debian native packages, which basically means that you'll be including a "debian" directory in your source code instead of creating its contents with patches.

Debian New Maintainers' Guide

Debian Developer's Reference

Debian Policy Manual

Ubuntu Packaging Guide