Lintian

Lintian is a code quality assurance tool for Debian packages. It examines a package and reports any issues that it finds, such as errors, warnings, and informational messages. These reports are generated based on a set of checks (called "tags") that examine various aspects of the package, including its contents, metadata, and packaging practices. Lintian is primarily used by Debian developers and maintainers to ensure that packages adhere to the Debian Policy Manual and other quality standards before they are included in the Debian archive. It helps to catch common mistakes, inconsistencies, and potential security vulnerabilities. The tool operates by unpacking the Debian package file (.deb) and then performing a series of automated checks against its contents. The results are presented in a human-readable format, allowing developers to easily identify and address any problems. Lintian is considered a critical component of the Debian quality control process. Its output is used to flag packages for review and prevent substandard or problematic packages from entering the distribution.