Package: dh-buildinfo Version: 0.11+nmu3 X-Debbugs-Cc: hol...@debian.org Hi,
dh-buildinfo much predates the reproducible builds effort and the .buildinfo file and probably laid ground to it. I am now raising the question whether it is time to get rid of dh-buildinfo in Debian. Essentially I am arguing that the use case of dh-buildinfo is now served by dpkg-genbuildinfo and the generated .buildinfo files on every package build. Besides the difference in formatting, the main difference is that dh-buildinfo embeds this information into the binary package rather than next to it (where it can be lost). I argue that all of the uses of dh-buildinfo can now be met with examining .buildinfo files. At the same time, dh-genbuildinfo reduces reproducibility. When cross building a package, we necessarily install different packages from a native build. This difference manifests in the embedded buildinfo files and thus comparing a natively built package with a cross built package needs to ignore the embedded buildinfo file where we would like cross builds to exactly reproduce native builds where possible. As such I am proposing to call dh-buildinfo deprecated, then to actively remove dependencies on it and finally remove it from Debian. If you agree with this vision, please tag this bug confirmed. If you disagree with this vision, please tag it wontfix and explain the added value that I fail to see. Thank you Helmut
