While you could edit the changelog directly, it is recommended to use debchange or its alias dch to assist in the modification of the changelog.
If you are regularly using debchange, it is also a good idea to set environment variables on your development machine.
If you do not, when debchange is invoked, it will automatically author the change with <user@systemname> when you should use the Dale Cooper <[email protected]> format.
You can run debchange from the root of the repository as debchange will climb the directory tree until it finds a debian/changelog file.
(venv) wlanpi@rbpi4b-8gb:[~/dev/wlanpi-core]: debchange
You should minially use dch -i when adding a new changelog because -i increases the release number and adds a changelog entry.
If you want to edit the changelog without changing the version or adding a new entry, use -e instead of -i.
On version numbers, from the Debian maintainers guide:
One tricky case can occur when you make a local package, to experiment with the packaging before uploading the normal version to the official archive, e.g., 1.0.1-1. For smoother upgrades, it is a good idea to create a changelog entry with a version string such as 1.0.1-1~rc1. You may unclutter changelog by consolidating such local change entries into a single entry for the official package.
You will likely want to set the DEBFULLNAME and DEBEMAIL environment variables on your development system. Two options demonstrated:
Set per session:
(venv) wlanpi@rbpi4b-8gb:[~/dev/wlanpi-core]: export DEBFULLNAME="Josh Schmelzle"
(venv) wlanpi@rbpi4b-8gb:[~/dev/wlanpi-core]: export DEBEMAIL="Josh Schmelzle <[email protected]>"Set to take effect at shell login via ~/.profile
# vim ~/.profile
# append the following:
export DEBFULLNAME="Josh Schmelzle"
export DEBEMAIL="Josh Schmelzle <[email protected]>"For more information on debchange review the manpages by running man debchange from your terminal.
Additionally review the Debian maintainers guide Chapter 8.