jordansissel/fpm · error

Debian tools (dpkg/apt) don't do well with packages that use

Error message

Debian tools (dpkg/apt) don't do well with packages that use capital letters in the name. In some cases it will automatically downcase them, in others it will not. It is confusing. Best to not use any capital letters at all. I have downcased the package name for you just to be safe.

What it means

Error "Debian tools (dpkg/apt) don't do well with packages that use capital letters in the name. In some cases it will automatically downcase them, in others it will not. It is confusing. Best to not use any capital letters at all. I have downcased the package name for you just to be safe." thrown in jordansissel/fpm.

Source

Thrown at lib/fpm/package/deb.rb:296

      # Debian calls aarch64 "arm64"
      @architecture = "arm64"
    when "noarch"
      # Debian calls noarch "all"
      @architecture = "all"
    when "ppc64le"
      # Debian calls ppc64le "ppc64el"
      @architecture = "ppc64el"
    end
    return @architecture
  end # def architecture

  # Get the name of this package. See also FPM::Package#name
  #
  # This accessor actually modifies the name if it has some invalid or unwise
  # characters.
  def name
    if @name =~ /[A-Z]/
      logger.warn("Debian tools (dpkg/apt) don't do well with packages " \
        "that use capital letters in the name. In some cases it will " \
        "automatically downcase them, in others it will not. It is confusing." \
        " Best to not use any capital letters at all. I have downcased the " \
        "package name for you just to be safe.",
        :oldname => @name, :fixedname => @name.downcase)
      @name = @name.downcase
    end

    if @name.include?("_")
      logger.info("Debian package names cannot include underscores; " \
                   "automatically converting to dashes", :name => @name)
      @name = @name.gsub(/[_]/, "-")
    end

    if @name.include?(" ")
      logger.info("Debian package names cannot include spaces; " \
                   "automatically converting to dashes", :name => @name)
      @name = @name.gsub(/[ ]/, "-")

View on GitHub (pinned to b6d77ba72a)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/fpm/package/deb.rb:296 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of jordansissel/fpm@b6d77ba72a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f92bcc7391a8361b. Report an issue: GitHub.