Bug#950585: binutils-dev: included log files introduce reproducibility issues

[Vagrant Cascadian]

Package: binutils-dev
Severity: normal
Tags: patch
User: reproducible-builds at lists.alioth.debian.org
Usertags: toolchain randomness buildpath hostname timestamps username
X-Debbugs-Cc: reproducible-bugs at lists.alioth.debian.org

The log files included in /usr/share/doc/binutils/tests/ include many
variable things (timestamps, timings, PIDs, temporary filenames,
usernames, addresses) that vary between builds.

I'm not sure what the rationale for including these test logs in the
package is, but from a reproducible builds perspective, ideally these
would simply not be included at all.

When running the build with DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS=nocheck, the build logs
are excluded, and results in a reproducible build. Perhaps you could
create a build profile that doesn't include these logs, and use it in
builds in which you want the logs?

If the logs must be included in the packages, the attached patch
attempts to sanitize the log file by removing everything that varies
between builds; I'm not sure if this removes too much data to be useful,
but it should make binutils reproducible at least in bullseye
(unstable/experimental also varies build path in the reproducible builds
test infrastructure, which triggers other issues). This approach does
feel a bit prone to playing whack-a-mole, so long-term this may not be
viable.

Please consider removing or sanitizing the logs so that this part of the
essential build toolchain can itself be built reproducibly!


Thanks for maintaining binutils!


live well,
  vagrant
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