[tz] Getting current tzdb version in use

[Paul Goyette]

On Sat, 21 Jul 2018, Tom Lane wrote:

>> NetBSD would not automatically install an additional file.  The build
>> process is very explicit about which files get copied to the build's
>> destination directory;  it is also very selective in what files it
>> includes in the .tgz "distribution set" files.  Manual intervention is
>> needed to update these steps.
>
> And your point is?  Should I conclude that NetBSD users see a seriously
> lobotomized set of time zones, or does the packager just automatically
> update the distribution list every time a new file shows up there?

Whenever the contents of the destination don't match what is expected, 
manual intervention is required to evaluate and make whatever changes 
are needed.

>
> In my former life as a packager for Red Hat, you'd list a specific set of
> files you expected your package to install into, say, /usr/bin -- either
> an unexpected addition or unexpected removal there should set off alarm
> bells.  But the file list for tzdb's database would almost certainly just
> be "/usr/share/zoneinfo/*"; there is no value in expending packager brain
> cells on second-guessing the upstream there.  Maybe NetBSD's packaging
> toolchain is too impoverished to do that, but I'd certainly call that
> a bug not a feature.

Perhaps.  Call it what you want, but that is reality.

Not worth further debate.  The info was offered only as a counter 
example to your doubt of the existence of packages who don't just 
include whatever shows up.


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