(In reply to comment #0)
> Please correct me if I'm wrong here, and/or please tell me what I am missing
> here
> 
> * This is my understanding about .so packaging: *
> 
> {PN}: main package, stripped (no symbols, no debug info)
> 
> ── libhwtest-cmake-so-a
> │   └── usr
> │       └── lib
> │           ├── libhwtestcmake.so.0 -> libhwtestcmake.so.0.0.0
> │           └── libhwtestcmake.so.0.0.0
> 
> {PN}-dbg: debug info (for debugging)
> 
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-dbg
> │   └── usr
> │       └── lib
> │           └── .debug
> │               └── libhwtestcmake.so.0.0.0
> 
> {PN}-src: sources (for debugging)
> 
> ── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-src
> │   └── usr
> │       └── src
> │           └── debug
> │               └── libhwtest-cmake-so-a
> │                   └── 1.0-r0
> │                       ├── hwtest-cmake1.c
> │                       └── hwtest-cmake2.c
> 
> {PN}-src: for SDK

{PN}-dev: for SDK
> 
> ── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-dev
> │   └── usr
> │       ├── include
> │       │   └── hwtest-cmake.h
> │       └── lib
> │           └── libhwtestcmake.so -> libhwtestcmake.so.0
> 
> 
> -----------------
> 
> so far so good and I guess I'm happy with this.
> 
> * This is my understanding about .a (staticdev) packaging: *
> 
> ├── libhw-cmake-a
> ├── libhw-cmake-a-dbg
> ├── libhw-cmake-a-dev         <-- for the SDK
> │   └── usr
> │       └── include
> │           └── hw-cmake.h
> ├── libhw-cmake-a-doc
> ├── libhw-cmake-a-locale
> ├── libhw-cmake-a-src
> └── libhw-cmake-a-staticdev  <-- for the SDK
>     └── usr
>         └── lib
>             └── libhwcmake.a
> 
> 
> issue 1)
> 
> {PN}-src:
> libhw-cmake-a-src seems to be empty by default, I thought it should contain
> the sources
> 
> issue 2)
> 
> {PN}-dbg, or {PN}-staticdev-dbg
> .debug
>      └── libhw-cmake-a-staticdev.a
> 
> libhw-cmake-a-dbg seems to be empty by default, I thought it should contain
> the debug info
> 
> issue 3)
> 
> {PN}-staticdev: 
> libhw-cmake-a-staticdev.a
> seems to be with debug info and not stripped, I thought it should be
> stripped and without debug info
> 
> Is it like this by design?
> 
> {PN}-dev: 
> ├── libhw-cmake-a-dev         <-- for the SDK
> │   └── usr
> │       └── include
> │           └── hw-cmake.h
> 
> we kind of agree ;)
> 
> ----
> ... and what should happen for a recipe which contains both .so and .a libs?
> 
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a
> │   └── usr
> │       └── lib
> │           ├── libhwtestcmake.so.0 -> libhwtestcmake.so.0.0.0
> │           └── libhwtestcmake.so.0.0.0
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-dbg
> │   └── usr
> │       └── lib
> │           └── .debug
> │               └── libhwtestcmake.so.0.0.0
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-dev
> │   └── usr
> │       ├── include
> │       │   └── hwtest-cmake.h
> │       └── lib
> │           └── libhwtestcmake.so -> libhwtestcmake.so.0
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-doc
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-locale
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a.shlibdeps
> ├── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-src
> │   └── usr
> │       └── src
> │           └── debug
> │               └── libhwtest-cmake-so-a
> │                   └── 1.0-r0
> │                       ├── hwtest-cmake1.c
> │                       └── hwtest-cmake2.c
> └── libhwtest-cmake-so-a-staticdev
>     └── usr
>         └── lib
>             └── libhwtestcmake.a
> 
> I saw: 
> 
> No debugsrc is collected for static libraries:
> 
> https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12558
> 
> which might solve one of the problems (didn't try yet).
> 
> Do we need {PN}-staticdev-dbg ?

I think the key piece of information missing here is that we only have one -src package, one -dev package and one -dbg package for any given recipe.

The same sources are used by several different packages for example.

This means static packages would not have their own dbg/src/dev variants.

Does this imply, that static libs will always include debug info by design?

How can I get rid of it?

Looking at package.bbclass, the stripping code has explicit logic to find static libraries.

#12558 indeed fixes the source package problem (2.5 onwards).  The dbg package should always be generated and populated for packages containing static libraries.

If you have further issues please file a new bug but be specific about what you're expecting with concrete examples.