Re: [PATCH v1 1/2] No insert of the build timestamp into the x86 xen efi binary

[Jan Beulich <jbeulich@xxxxxxxx>]

On 30.10.2020 13:03, Frédéric Pierret (fepitre) wrote:

> --- a/xen/arch/x86/Makefile
> +++ b/xen/arch/x86/Makefile
> @@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ EFI_LDFLAGS += --major-image-version=$(XEN_VERSION)
>  EFI_LDFLAGS += --minor-image-version=$(XEN_SUBVERSION)
>  EFI_LDFLAGS += --major-os-version=2 --minor-os-version=0
>  EFI_LDFLAGS += --major-subsystem-version=2 --minor-subsystem-version=0
> +EFI_LDFLAGS += --no-insert-timestamp

Generally I prefer binaries to carry timestamps, when they are
intended to do so (i.e. when they have a respective field). So
I think if no timestamp is wanted, it should be as an option
(not sure about the default).

This said, I didn't think time stamps got meaningfully in the
way of reproducible builds - ignoring the minor differences
cause by them, especially when they sit at well known offsets
in the binaries, shouldn't be a big deal.

Jan