Differences between upstream and the Debian package
===================================================

* On Debian, the static libraries are not built.

* SET SQLDA_DISPLAY option is enabled in production build of isql.

* All files are installed according to the FHS. Relatively complete
  environment as provided by upstream may be found in
  /usr/lib/firebird/2.5

* Debian packages do not use the pre-supplied sources for
  libicu and libeditline. Instead, Debian packages of ICU and libedit are used.

* POSSIBLE INCOMPATIBILITY
  In indices on text-based columns (CHAR/VARCHAR), Firebird uses ICU to get
  binary-comparable sequences (collations). These collations may be different
  in different ICU versions.

  Debian packages use the Debian-packaged libicu*. Unfortunately, this may lead
  to incompatibilities in the binary index representation (on disk) between
  databases created by Debian-packaged Firebird, and upstream.

  This can also lead to incompatibilities when the Firebird packages are
  re-built using different version of the system-wide ICU library or when the
  system-wide ICU library is upgraded.

  One way to fix this is to backup and restore all databases created with ICU
  version different from the one currently installed on the system. Another is
  to re-generate all indices that contain a text-based columns.

  To help with the second approach, a script is provided in
  /usr/share/doc/firebird2.5-server-common, named reindex-db. This script can
  be used when working with firebird databases created by upstream-released
  Firebird, or when Firebird packages are built using different ICU version
  that the one used in the packages used to create the database. It
  re-activates all already active indices on text columns, except those using
  character set NONE and OCTETS.

* Missing documentation in PDF format

  The Quick-Start guide and the Release Notes are provided upstream in PDF
  format. Debian cannot re-distribute these as the source files, which are
  preferred for modification are not included in the upstream archive.

  The PDFs are available from the Firebird website at
  http://firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=doc
