Bug#991926: grub2: reproducible builds: timestamps in info pages

[Vagrant Cascadian]

On 2021-08-05, Vagrant Cascadian wrote:
> Timestamps are embedded in the info pages shipped in grub2-common:
>
>   https://tests.reproducible-builds.org/debian/rb-pkg/bullseye/amd64/diffoscope-results/grub2.html
>
>   ./usr/share/info/grub.info-1.gz
>
>   ...27·August·2022
>   vs.
>   ...24·July·2021
>
>
> The attached patches fix this by removing the UPDATED parts from
> docs/grub-dev.texi and docs/grub.texi.

I have confirmed that this issue is still present and that the patch
fixes the issue.


> There are still several other outstanding issues affecting the
> reproducibility of grub2(including other timestamp issues), but this
> should help reduce the differences to troubleshoot the remaining issues.

Would you be amenable to an NMU of grub2 to fix this timestamp issue
(#991926) and several of the other outstanding reproducibility issues?

  https://bugs.debian.org/991928 (locales)
  https://bugs.debian.org/991927 (/bin/sh vs. /bin/bash)
  https://bugs.debian.org/1138608 (ordering in lintian overrides)

There are still some remaining issues, but this would at least fix a few
of the packages produced by grub2 that are not building reproducibly:

  https://reproduce.debian.net/excuses.html?source_name=grub2


Am looking at the other issues too, but since some are nearly 5 years
old... it would be nice to get them fixed to reduce the noise. :)


live well,
  vagrant

> From 5350251d24394b67c2075ece7a4af18a8a299b0a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
> From: Vagrant Cascadian <vagrant at reproducible-builds.org>
> Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2021 00:05:21 +0000
> Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Remove updated timestamps from grub.texi and
>  grub-dev.texi
>
> The timestamps are embedded in the documentation at build time, which
> does not accurately reflect when the documentation was last updated,
> and obviously causes issues for reproducible builds to embed the build
> time.
>
> https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/timestamps/
> ---
>  docs/grub-dev.texi | 5 ++---
>  docs/grub.texi     | 5 ++---
>  2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/docs/grub-dev.texi b/docs/grub-dev.texi
> index 635ec7231..6accaf4c8 100644
> --- a/docs/grub-dev.texi
> +++ b/docs/grub-dev.texi
> @@ -17,8 +17,7 @@
>  @finalout
>  
>  @copying
> -This developer manual is for GNU GRUB (version @value{VERSION},
> - at value{UPDATED}).
> +This developer manual is for GNU GRUB (version @value{VERSION}).
>  
>  Copyright @copyright{} 1999,2000,2001,2002,2004,2005,2006,2008,2009,2010,2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
>  
> @@ -40,7 +39,7 @@ Invariant Sections.
>  @titlepage
>  @sp 10
>  @title the GNU GRUB developer manual
> - at subtitle The GRand Unified Bootloader, version @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}.
> + at subtitle The GRand Unified Bootloader, version @value{VERSION}.
>  @author Yoshinori K. Okuji
>  @author Colin D Bennett
>  @author Vesa Jääskeläinen
> diff --git a/docs/grub.texi b/docs/grub.texi
> index 25f77d342..a3dc79301 100644
> --- a/docs/grub.texi
> +++ b/docs/grub.texi
> @@ -17,8 +17,7 @@
>  @finalout
>  
>  @copying
> -This manual is for GNU GRUB (version @value{VERSION},
> - at value{UPDATED}).
> +This manual is for GNU GRUB (version @value{VERSION}).
>  
>  Copyright @copyright{} 1999,2000,2001,2002,2004,2006,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
>  
> @@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ Invariant Sections.
>  @titlepage
>  @sp 10
>  @title the GNU GRUB manual
> - at subtitle The GRand Unified Bootloader, version @value{VERSION}, @value{UPDATED}.
> + at subtitle The GRand Unified Bootloader, version @value{VERSION}.
>  @author Gordon Matzigkeit
>  @author Yoshinori K. Okuji
>  @author Colin Watson
> -- 
> 2.32.0
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