AlmaLinux packaging guideline

Upstream packages modification

Here is a (mostly complete) list of reasons to modify an upstream package:

• debranding.
• removing upstream-specific dependencies (e.g. subscription-manager).
• fixing upstream bugs if necessary.

We have a convention to add the .alma postfix to the end of the modified packages "Release" field. For example, an upstream sos-3.9.1-6.el8 package will become sos-3.9.1-6.el8.alma after debranding. This will help us distinguish our packages from upstream ones, especially if a machine was converted to AlmaLinux.

All modified package sources should be uploaded to a corresponding repository in the AlmaLinux Git git.almalinux.org (opens new window) into branches for modified sources - a8 and a9.