[Pkg-libvirt-maintainers] Bug#842452: FTBFS depdnding on docs/apibuild.py timestamp (api docs not buildable)

[Santiago Vila]

On Sat, Oct 29, 2016 at 12:21:39PM +0100, Ian Jackson wrote:
> Package: libvirt
> Version: 2.3.0-3
> Severity: serious
> 
> [...]
>
>   $ apt-get source libvirt
>   $ cd libvirt-2.3.0/
>   $ touch docs/apibuild.py
>   $ dpkg-buildpackage -uc -b >../log 2>&1
>
> [...]

I disagree that this is RC, because no sane autobuilder would ever do that.

Not every modification to a source package will always keep the property
that it still builds, and IMO timestamps are already a kind of modification.

Should not we consider "respecting timestamps as produced by
dpkg-source and friends" as an essential part of the build process for
a Debian source package?

This may (or may not) be a Makefile bug in the upstream package in an
abstract sense, but I don't see it as a bug in the Debian source
package version 2.3.0-3 as found in the Debian FTP archives.

BTW: Did you try touching docs/apibuild.py.stamp as well?

Thanks.