Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: Standard parsable format for profiles/package.mask file

[Sam James <sam@gentoo.org>]

Ulrich Mueller <ulm@gentoo.org> writes:

> [[PGP Signed Part:Undecided]]
>>>>>> On Thu, 21 Sep 2023, Florian Schmaus wrote:
>
>>> The first line of the "#"-prefixed explanation block must be of the
>>> format "${AUTHOR_NAME} <${EMAIL}> (${SINGLE_DATE})" when the date is of
>>> format YYYY-MM-DD, in UTC timezone.
>>                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>> Can we drop this? Or, at least, relax this.
>
> I think UTC makes a lot of sense in an international context like ours.
> It also avoids flapping of the date between entries (i.e. a newer entry
> having an older date than the previous one).

Yes, I don't think we need to punish people for getting it wrong, but at
the same time, I'd like us to standardise on UTC - saying this as
someone who isn't in UTC half of the year.

That means others are free to correct it if they notice it's the
wrong date and so on.

>> I usually just enter my locale date here and like to avoid having to
>> think about that UTC is potentially in a different date. I also can
>> not remember any situation where the date being in UTC matters. Plus,
>> if you want accurate timestamps, then the git commit/author date is
>> here for you. :)

Users consume p.mask entries directly rather than via git.