The python3-protobuf packages in Debian experimental switched to a
different version scheme:

```
$ rmadison -s unstable,experimental -a amd64 python3-protobuf
python3-protobuf | 3.21.12-16    | unstable     | amd64
python3-protobuf | 36.0~rc1-1+b1 | experimental | amd64
```

But 36.0~rc1 is not the version number that is used by upstream for
releases on Pypi. The current version there is 7.36.0rc1.

Debian omits the major version part.

I think that is confusing and python3-protobuf versions should match
the versions that upstream uses for Pypi releases. Everything else
seems to be very fragile for versioned dependencies on
python3-protobuf.

(This might require that src:protobuf overrides the "Version" field
for some binary packages.)

Ansgar

Hi Ansgar,
 It follows upstream versioning [1]. Under v36.0-rc1 it lists Python.
 As noted, Debian packaging comes from the upstream repository [2]
where it has 36.0 RC1 as version number.
 Does the package version matter on Python version detection? I think
dependant packages may check the version number directly:
$ python3
7 36 0
 Can you show me examples of such packages? I've never done a package
binary version override.

Cheers,
Laszlo/GCS
[1] https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases
[2] https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/tree/v36.0-rc1/python

Hi,

Please see https://protobuf.dev/support/version-support/

Different languages have breaking changes at independent versions. So
the major version is language-dependent.
">= 6, < 7" which are not satisfied by a version introducing breaking
changes.

This cannot be expressed on the Debian package level when the major
version is omitted.

It also makes mapping version requirements from other packages harder:
upstreams will use the Protobuf upstream versions that include the
major version. That would not be correct for Debian packaging.

Hmm, packages like src:gcc-defaults and src:linux-signed-amd64 should
do that. The relevant part is passing `-- -v{binary-version}` to
`dh_gencontrol`.

I guess something like

```
dh_gencontrol -- -v7.$(DEB_VERSION)
```

might work? (With DEB_VERSION from /usr/share/dpkg/pkg-info.mk.) Though
one might not want to hardcode the "7." part or at least trigger an
error when this changed upstream.

The upstream part seem to be maintained in files like

- https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/blob/main/protobuf_version.bzl
- https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/blob/main/version.json

Upstream changes seem to update version numbers in quite a lot of places at once:

https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/commit/4b269eb436f138aac5f2a189f290ad132aebfba5

So I'm not sure which is the best place to check.

Ansgar

Hi Ansgar,
 OK, for the time being I have changed the packaging. Now I produce
individually versioned language bindings packages for Java, Python and
Ruby. Not yet for PHP, that's a known overlook.
If you have time, please check for the updated package [1].
 So this means even if language bindings have different major
versions, those might be just 'visual' differences. Versions are
changed in lock-step, not individually.

Cheers,
Laszlo/GCS
[1] dget -x https://people.debian.org/~gcs/protobuf_36.0~rc2-1.dsc

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
protobuf, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1143480@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Laszlo Boszormenyi (GCS) <gcs@debian.org> (supplier of updated protobuf package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2026 16:30:29 +0200
Source: protobuf
Architecture: source
Version: 36.0~rc2-1
Distribution: experimental
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Laszlo Boszormenyi (GCS) <gcs@debian.org>
Changed-By: Laszlo Boszormenyi (GCS) <gcs@debian.org>
Closes: 1143480
Changes:
 protobuf (36.0~rc2-1) experimental; urgency=medium
 .
   * New major upstream release candidate version.
   * Update patches.
   * Build Java bindings for version 9 of runtime.
   * Build versioned Java, PHP, Python and Ruby language binding packages
     (closes: #1143480).
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Hi,

Please note that you might need to request removal of the old binary
packages from experimental as the versions are going backwards: from
36.x back to 7.36.x.

(I think this is fine for experimental; no need to add an epoch.)

Ansgar