Testing a package fix means being able to build the package too: change the source, add a patch, build the package for a given distribution and architecture and check that it behaves as it should.
Scope
- RPM: spec files – dependencies, patches, install scripts and changes between versions.
- Debian: a source package described by a
.dscfile and adebian/directory withcontroland the other files that define how the package builds and what it depends on. - Building locally to check a change quickly, and in the Open Build Service, which builds the same sources for several distributions and architectures at once.