[Reproducible-commits] [source-date-epoch-spec] 04/04: recommend against using build date and suggest some better alternatives

[Ximin Luo]

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infinity0 pushed a commit to branch master
in repository source-date-epoch-spec.

commit 89bdf0fdf5dc2a0af5b680d53f29d935f51b1c81
Author: Ximin Luo <infinity0 at debian.org>
Date:   Thu Aug 27 17:07:39 2015 +0200

    recommend against using build date and suggest some better alternatives
---
 source-date-epoch-spec.xml | 24 ++++++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/source-date-epoch-spec.xml b/source-date-epoch-spec.xml
index 57ee6c2..a9487ba 100644
--- a/source-date-epoch-spec.xml
+++ b/source-date-epoch-spec.xml
@@ -227,16 +227,8 @@
 			process such as a distribution-specific build scripts, or
 			by the user themselves).
 		</para>
-
 		<warning>
 			<para>
-				Code SHOULD NOT require the presence of the
-				variable so that it can be built outside of a
-				context where it is provided. Falling back to
-				the "current" time may be acceptable behaviour
-				if the variable is missing or malformed.
-			</para>
-			<para>
 				In addition, care should be taken to avoid
 				timezone and locale-specific formatting of the
 				value of <envar>SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH</envar>. If
@@ -246,6 +238,22 @@
 				run-time.
 			</para>
 		</warning>
+		<para>
+			If the value is missing or empty, the upstream build
+			process chooses its own behaviour; this situation is
+			undistinguishable from one that is not following this
+			specification. However, we RECOMMEND that the behaviour
+			should more closely approximate the date of the last
+			modification to the source code. This may be detected
+			automatically if the source is on a developer's machine
+			or from source control, or hard-coded into an official
+			release tarball; falling back to the "current" date and
+			time of the build is NOT RECOMMENDED.
+		</para>
+		<para>
+			If the value is malformed, the upstream build process
+			should exit with a non-zero error code.
+		</para>
 	</sect2>
 </sect1>
 

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