Patch headers https://packaging.ubuntu.com/html/patches-to-packages.html#patch-headers We recommend that you tag every patch with DEP-3 headers by putting them at the top of patch file. Here are some headers that you can use: Description: Description of what the patch does. It is formatted like Description field in debian/control: first line is short description, starting with lowercase letter, the next lines are long description, indented with a space. Author: Who wrote the patch (i.e. “Jane Doe packager@example.com ”). Origin: Where this patch comes from (i.e. “upstream”), when Author is not present. Bug-Ubuntu: A link to Launchpad bug, a short form is preferred (like https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/XXXXXXX). If there are also bugs in upstream or Debian bugtrackers, add Bug or Bug-Debian headers. Forwarded: Whether the patch was forwarded upstream. Either “yes”, “no” or “not-needed”. Last-Update: Date of the last revision (in form “YYYY-MM-DD”).