Fixing a 20 year old bug in Debian curl
A long-standing bug in the Debian curl package, which dates back over 20 years, is being addressed by its maintainers. The issue arose when upstream curl changed the SONAME version of libcurl, complicating compatibility with various projects. The proposed solution aims to maintain compatibility while minimizing the need for extensive developer intervention.
- ▪The Debian curl package has been maintained by three people, with significant contributions from Samuel and Charles since 2021.
- ▪A transition occurred when upstream curl bumped the SONAME version of libcurl from 3 to 4, leading to compatibility challenges.
- ▪The proposed fix involves keeping the library soname unchanged while reverting Debian's symbol versioning to ensure compatibility.
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18 May 2026 Tags: debian, debug, curl, english, free-software Fixing a 20+ year old bug in Debian curl Table of Contents Once upon a time… More discrepancy is added A call to make things right The initial plan curl_symbol_name@@CURL_GNUTLS_4 Function alias __curl_compat_symbol_name@CURL_GNUTLS_3 First attempt and lessons learned Second attempt and some adjustments Debian package adjustments Merge request and next steps I have been helping co-maintain the Debian curl package for a few years now, and even though Samuel and Charles do most of the work, I’m happy to jump in and help when needed. This is one of those cases. Nowadays the package is maintained by 3 people (with help from others occasionally), but it hasn’t always been like this.
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