[Build-common-hackers] Bug#724281: Bug#724281: cdbs: license check a lot of time results in an error

[Giulio Paci]

On 23/09/2013 12:06, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:
> Quoting Giulio Paci (2013-09-23 12:01:18)
>> Package: cdbs
>> Version: 0.4.122
>> Severity: normal
>>
>> Dear Maintainer,
>>
>> while packaging sptk (git://anonscm.debian.org/collab-maint/sptk.git) I
>> encountered a strange behaviour of the license check code.
>>
>> Invoking the command:
>>
>> DEB_MAINTAINER_MODE=1 fakeroot debian/rules pre-build
>>
>> a copyright_newhints file is generated (most of the times) and an error is
>> reported. Running it again, after a clean, results in a different
>> copyright_newhints and a different error.
>>
>> This is the first time I encounter this behaviour, so maybe I am doing
>> something wrong, but everything seems normal to me.
> 
> How are they different?


They contain almost identical duplicated copyright year lines (usually
the difference is a comma at the end).
The files that creates the problems are usually autoconf files (e.g.,
aclocal.m4 or config.guess).

The common errors are like this:

"ERROR: The following (and possibly more) new or changed notices discovered:

Copyright: 1996-1997, 2000-2001, 2003, 2005"


"ERROR: The following (and possibly more) new or changed notices discovered:

  1999-2006"

"ERROR: The following (and possibly more) new or changed notices discovered:

  1992-1999,
  1992-2001
  1997, 1999-2001, 2003-2005,"

Bests,
	Giulio.