[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] configure: add --build-date and --build-time options

[Reimar Döffinger]

On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 03:49:09PM +0100, Andreas Cadhalpun wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 22.01.2015 15:31, wm4 wrote:
> >If the build date is not correct, then what value does the build date
> >have at all?
> 
> How do you know it is 'correct' currently?
> One can change the system clock (or use faketime).

And someone could hand-edit the revision number...
I think we have to assume non-maliciousness, otherwise it's all
pointless.

> What value has the 'correct' build date?
> If you build an ffmpeg version from a year ago today it will contain the
> current date. That's rather misleading.

As it is the build date I see nothing misleading about that at all.
I would buy the argument though that having the build date at all
is useless and should be removed.

> With the --build-{date,time} options one can specify meaningful values such
> as the time of the last change to the source.

Then it's not the build date.
If we want a last-changed-date we should change it to
that.
But having a build date that in Debian actually is the
last-source-change date, except when something goes
wrong and it's something completely wrong seems to me
to defeat the purpose (assuming there is one in the first place).
I vote for just removing the build date.
As an alternative I vote to change it to use the date of
the last commit if the source tree is clean and has git info
available, current date otherwise.
What do others think?