On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 09:02:58PM +0200, David Craven wrote: > > 1. I'd like to use overlay fs (like docker) and create a new overlay > > for each phase to easily revert a phase. > > I think this might also help to debug build reproducibility issues, by > finding out which phase is introducing them. (Or is it always > obvious?)
In general, the idea of being able to move between phases like that is really cool. I don't have any experience with overlayfs, so I can't comment on that detail. I wouldn't say it's ever obvious where a reproducibility bug is introduced, but many of them are timestamps, sometimes with an English string attached, and that code is usually easy to find. Thankfully, the Reproducible Builds project has a useful database of bugs they've found: https://anonscm.debian.org/git/reproducible/notes.git
