Re: [Help-tar] [PATCH] Add --clamp-mtime option

[Paul Eggert]

Jakob Bohm wrote:

> This is because the timestamp manipulation is typically limited to
> files that are going to be packaged, not to build intermediary files
> (such as .o files).

One solution is to update the timestamps of build intermediary files as well. 
Another is to save the time stamps of backdated files and to restore them after 
running 'tar'.  Both of these should be easy to do.

> And do remember that debian source packages are independent of any
> source control systems (git, svn etc. etc.) that you may have been
> using when you created the package.

Sure, but the point is that you have some way of recording time stamps of source 
files, and you want those recorded time stamps to be in the tarball.  This is 
needed regardless of whether there's a --clamp-mtime option.

> --clamp-mtime preserves the timestamp of files that are *not*
> modified/created by the package build and should thus keep the
> timestamp from the source package.

The method I'm proposing doesn't use --mtime and so doesn't need --clamp-mtime.