When packaging with Debian, this is the minimal set of package that shoudl be installed # apt-get install build-essential devscripts debhelper dh-make git subversion Go to the source directory $ mk-build-deps This will generate a "<package-name>-build-deps_1.0_amd64.deb" file Move that file one directory up $ mv "<package-name>-build-deps_1.0_amd64.deb" ../ as root: # dpkg -i /home/mrakotomandimby/<package-name>-build-deps_1.0_amd64.deb This will output an error (dont worry) But continue with # apt-get install -f