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>

                                        04 September 2023                             untitled(1)