Minimal Reproducible Arch Linux (4(+2) unreproducible, January 2025 status update)

[David A. Wheeler]

> On Jan 22, 2025, at 6:50 AM, kpcyrd <kpcyrd at archlinux.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear list,
> 
> I rechecked my VM that I tried to build with "reproducible only" Arch Linux packages, last year there was only the Linux kernel missing, there have been some regressions that I've investigated.

Kudos on these investigations!

In my mind, the best long-term solution is to make testing for reproducibility *part* of the
tests for these systems. That obviously at-least-doubles the CPU for testing, but it
would eliminate the whack-a-mole process of fixing regressions endlessly.
Ideally such tests would be in upstream as well.

Perhaps there's a way to require that, at least before accepting an update
(and allowing exceptions if necessary)? At least for widely-used important
packages like curl?

--- David A. Wheeler