svn commit: r195626 - in head: contrib/amd/amd contrib/ntp/scripts contrib/sendmail/cf/sh secure/lib/libcrypto sys/contrib/dev/acpica/compiler sys/dev/hptrr

[Colin Percival]

Brian Somers wrote:
> On Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:30:37 +0000 (UTC) Colin Percival <cperciva at FreeBSD.org> wrote:
>>   Remove build timestamps from the following files:
 >>   [...]
>>   After this commit, the only remaining build timestamps are in the kernel,
>>   the boot loaders, /usr/include/osreldate.h (the year in the copyright
>>   notice), and lib*.a (the timestamps on all of the included .o files).
 >
> This is a fantastic change.  Our new-branch-per-project methodology
> @work made us implement this change locally.
> 
> Another change that was necessary along the same lines was to remove
> any hostnames or path names that leak into object code, the most noticeable
> of which is of course one of the first kernel boot message lines.
> 
> Are there plans to change kernel code and/or hostname/path name stuff?

I'm not particularly concerned about the hostname or paths, since there are
workarounds (i.e., set the same hostname and use the same path, and files
will come out the same).

The timestamps in the kernel and boot loaders can probably be removed, but I
wanted to consult with the community first, since it is conceivable that those
timestamps are useful in some situations.  I'm even less certain about the
timestamps included in library archive files -- if anyone with binutils-fu
can confirm for me if these are used at all, and if not, how to get rid of
them, I'd be very very happy.

-- 
Colin Percival
Security Officer, FreeBSD | freebsd.org | The power to serve
Founder / author, Tarsnap | tarsnap.com | Online backups for the truly paranoid