[Bug 1908333] Re: Ubuntu's groff ignores TZ (but upstream works)

[jimav]

** Attachment added: "Demo script as a separate attachment"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/groff/+bug/1908333/+attachment/5444013/+files/groff_date_test.sh

** Attachment removed: "Demo script as a separate attachment"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/groff/+bug/1908333/+attachment/5444012/+files/groff_date_test.sh

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1908333

Title:
  Ubuntu's groff ignores TZ (but upstream works)

Status in groff package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS

  groff's date & time (visible in variable \n[hours] for example) are
  always in UTC, not the local time.  The TZ environment variable is
  ignored.

  The upstream version doesn't have this bug; it honors TZ as it should.
  I downloaded and built from upstream source the exact same version of
  groff that the Ubuntu package claims to contain, and it works.  But
  the Ubuntu binary does not work in this respect.

  dpkg-query -l groff says: 1.22.4-4build1 amd64

  Upstream source code is at
  http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/groff/groff-1.22.4.tar.gz

  STEPS TO REPRODUCE: 
    1. Run the following script

  #!/bin/sh
  #GROFF=/home/jima/src/groff-1.22.4/inst/bin/groff
  GROFF=/usr/bin/groff
  echo "Using $GROFF"
  for varlist in \
     'PATH=/bin:/usr/bin' \
     'PATH=/bin:/usr/bin TZ=UTC' \
     'PATH=/bin:/usr/bin TZ=America/New_York' \
     'PATH=/bin:/usr/bin TZ=America/Los_Angeles' \
  ; do
    echo "--------------------------------------"
    eval "env -i $varlist /bin/sh" <<SHELLEOF
  #(set -x; env)
  echo "TZ is \${TZ:-(unset)}"
  echo -n "date  says: "; date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'
  $GROFF <<'GEND' 2>&1 >/dev/null
  .tm groff says: \n[year]-\n[mo]-\n[dy] \n[hours]:\n[minutes]:\n[seconds]
  GEND
  SHELLEOF
  done

  ***
  Here is output on my system (notice that \n[hours] is always in UTC regardless of TZ):

  Using /usr/bin/groff
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is (unset)
  date  says: 2020-12-15 16:54:38
  groff says: 2020-12-16 0:54:38
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is UTC
  date  says: 2020-12-16 00:54:38
  groff says: 2020-12-16 0:54:38
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is America/New_York
  date  says: 2020-12-15 19:54:38
  groff says: 2020-12-16 0:54:38
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is America/Los_Angeles
  date  says: 2020-12-15 16:54:38
  groff says: 2020-12-16 0:54:38

  ***
  Here is output using groff built from upstream source:

  Using /home/jima/src/groff-1.22.4/inst/bin/groff
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is (unset)
  date  says: 2020-12-15 16:55:05
  groff says: 2020-12-15 16:55:5
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is UTC
  date  says: 2020-12-16 00:55:05
  groff says: 2020-12-16 0:55:5
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is America/New_York
  date  says: 2020-12-15 19:55:05
  groff says: 2020-12-15 19:55:5
  --------------------------------------
  TZ is America/Los_Angeles
  date  says: 2020-12-15 16:55:05
  groff says: 2020-12-15 16:55:5

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
  Package: groff 1.22.4-4build1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-54.60-generic 5.4.65
  Uname: Linux 5.4.0-54-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.13
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
  CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
  Date: Tue Dec 15 16:40:41 2020
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-03-24 (266 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine" - Release amd64 (20191017)
  SourcePackage: groff
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-05-16 (213 days ago)

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