[Reproducible-builds] Bug#774031: r-base-dev: please do not write username and current time when building packages

[Jérémy Bobbio]

Package: r-base-dev
Version: 3.1.2-2
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
User: reproducible-builds at lists.alioth.debian.org
Usertags: toolchain username timestamps

Hi!

While working on the “reproducible builds” effort [1], we have noticed
that R packages could not be built reproducibly.

The username and build time gets written to the `Packaged` field in
`package.rds`. The build time also gets written to the `Built` field of
the `DESCRIPTION` file.

This data does not look very useful in the context of Debian packages.
The attached patch simply stops writing the `Packaged` field entirely
and remove the build time from the `Built` field. R packages can then be
built reproducibly according to some preliminary tests.

If this approach is seen as too broad, using the timestamp in the latest
debian/changelog entry through an environment variable would allow to
keep a timestamp. My current R skills are not up to such task, though.
The username should probably be removed or made constant in any cases.

 [1]: https://wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds

-- 
Lunar                                .''`. 
lunar at debian.org                    : :Ⓐ  :  # apt-get install anarchism
                                    `. `'` 
                                      `-   
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