Re: Add set_* functions to stat-time?

[Bruno Haible]

[Redirecting to bug-tar.]
Collin Funk wrote in
<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2024-03/msg00189.html>:

> $ tar -xf eclipse-inst-jre-linux64.tar.gz 
> gtar: Ignoring unknown extended header keyword 'LIBARCHIVE.creationtime'
> gtar: Ignoring unknown extended header keyword 'LIBARCHIVE.creationtime'
> # and many more times...

IMO, there is no point in having the 'creationtime' of a file in the tar file
of a package. Rationale:

  * Tar can be used for making backups or for transporting directory
    trees between machine. While, in the former case, it can be debated
    whether sysadmins want the file creation times restored when they
    restore some data from backup, for the second case it's clear: There is
    no need to fake a file creation time on the disk of the user who runs
    "tar -xf".
    The European GDPR asks for minimizing the collection of data that is
    necessary for the job. mtime is necessary for transporting a package
    to a different machine. Even atime is not. But ctime and creationtime
    are not either, even less.

  * On Linux, it's not even possible to set the birthtime of a file, if
    that is meant to mean the ctime (change time).

Bruno