[rb-general] Q. Should a tool that implements SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH abort if it can't ensure reproducibility?

[Dan Kegel]

On Fri, Jun 23, 2017 at 5:50 PM, Daniel Shahaf <danielsh at apache.org> wrote:
> Dan Kegel wrote on Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:39 -0700:
>> is SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH a best-effort flag, or a must-deliver kind
>> of flag?
>...
> 1. If the envvar is set and the build process is unable to set embedded
>    timestamps to that value, then it MUST exit with an error.

Jolly good.  What about ar, then?   Surely it's sufficient to use ar's
-D option,
which cannot satisfy that statement.
So some refinement may be needed.

- Dan