[SeaBIOS] [PATCH 0/3] Don't allow version override; use reproducible by default

[Kevin O'Connor]

On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 09:56:44AM +0200, Gerd Hoffmann wrote:
>   Hi,
> 
> > > In order to facilitate "reproducible" builds, this patch series also
> > > changes the build to no longer include the system hostname nor build
> > > time on default "clean" builds.  Specifically, if git is available,
> > > the git repo is not in a "dirty" state, and gcc/binutils versions are
> > > successfully extracted, then the default version string will just
> > > contain the git version information.  However, should any of the
> > > preceding tests not succeed, then the version will continue to include
> > > the hostname and build time.
> > 
> > FYI, I committed this series.
> 
> Hmm, just noticed that only git builds are considered being "clean".
> That implies builds from release tarballs will *not* be considered
> clean.  Was that intentional?

My thinking was that it is too easy for a ".version" file to be
inadvertently incorrect.  That is, if one pulls down a release tarball
and then modifies some files, the version in the binary is not going
to reflect the fact that changes were made.

I didn't think it would be too painful to require the git repo for
those desiring a reproducible build.  The "git describe" tool is quite
useful for getting a meaningful hash of the repo.

Do you think that will be a problem?

-Kevin