NAME

       fp-fix-timestamps - helper script for the Free Pascal stack in Debian

SYNOPSIS

       fp-fix-timestamps check|update|touch

DESCRIPTION

       fp-fix-timestamps  is  meant  to  be used by Debian source packages in the Free Pascal stack. The primary
       location for use is the debian/rules file. The aim of this script is to fix  the  timestamps  of  patched
       files (with respect to upstream) that would otherwise end up changing the timestamp stored in ppu files.

       This timestamp in ppu files has two issues:

       1.  It deteriorates reproducible builds.

       2.  Reverse  dependent  packages  that  also  build ppu files may believe that the source has changed and
           either require recompilation of the source or at least require recalculation all the time.

       Currently this script supports three operations.

       1.  touch: The main operation is to touch the files that are listed in  debian/source/timestamps  to  the
           associated timestamps (in that same file).

       2.  check:  When  the  situation  is  simple  and the only changes in the package to the source come from
           patches, the check option can be used to verify that the list in  debian/source/timestamps  is  still
           up-to-date  in  the  sense that all files touched by patches are listed and that all files listed are
           touched by patches.

       3.  update: Similar to check, but also update the debian/source/timestamps file.

       When the maintainer scripts modify a source file outside of the patches, the maintainer is  free  to  add
       those files manually to the timestamps file, but then the check and update options don't work as expected
       anymore.

SEE ALSO

       https://wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds/TimestampsInPPUGeneratedByFPC

AUTHOR

       Paul Gevers <elbrus@debian.org>

                                                25 November 2019                                     untitled(1)