I reproduced the setup and verified Valentin's patch (copy_as_symlink.patch):
- Applies cleanly against the current packaged source (4.9.2-1), no fuzz.
- hooks/common/60-copy-host-files still passes a shell syntax check after
the change.
- Full package builds fine (dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b) and lintian is
clean.
- Confirmed the fixed script actually ends up in the built .deb, not
just that the patch applied to the source tree.
/etc/localtime being a symlink to /usr/share/zoneinfo/Etc/UTC is the
default on any UTC-configured host, so this isn't an edge case, it'll
hit most installs. The cp -d fix looks correct: it makes
${prefix}/etc/localtime a symlink to the same target path, which
resolves correctly once the guest's own tzdata is in place, instead of
dereferencing through to the host's file.
This is currently the one thing blocking the package's migration to
testing, so hopefully this helps get it applied.
Ivo
