[Reproducible-builds] Bug#806321: coreutils: please make the build reproducible (timestamps)

[Jérémy Bobbio]

Source: coreutils
Version: 8.23-4
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
User: reproducible-builds at lists.alioth.debian.org
Usertags: timestamps

Hi!

While working on the “reproducible builds” effort [1], we have noticed
that coreutils could not be built reproducibly. The build process uses
help2man to create some of manpages.

help2man author added support for the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH environment
variable [2] in version 1.47.1 which makes it possible to use a
pre-defined value instead of the time of the build.

As coreutils source currently contains an old version of help2man, the
attached patch will copy the version in the help2man Debian package
before running ./configure on top of setting SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH to the
date of the latest debian/changelog entry.

Once applied, coreutils can be built reproducibly in our current
experimental framework.

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

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