[Bug 2007611] [NEW] Undocumented date format (via date_fmt) change from Bionic to Focal, then reverted again from Focal to Jammy

[David A. Desrosiers]

Public bug reported:

It seems like the output of `date` has changed between Bionic, Focal and
Jammy, resulting from the lack of, inclusion of and subsequent removal
of the `date_fmt` line in the `/usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US` file
included in the glibc package.

Since this change is not reflected in the ChangeLog for those respective
releases, I'm wondering what the motivator for that change was, and if
we can be consistent in the format of that file in those versions of the
package.

https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/main/g/glibc/glibc_2.37-0ubuntu1/changelog

ubuntu at date-bionic-repro:~$ date
Thu Feb 16 20:34:21 UTC 2023

ubuntu at date-focal-repro:~$ date
Thu 16 Feb 2023 08:34:21 PM UTC

ubuntu at date-jammy-repro:~$ date
Thu Feb 16 08:34:21 PM UTC 2023

In each of these versions, we see:

Bionic:
=====================
$ grep ^date_fmt /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US; echo $?
1

Focal:
=====================
$ grep ^date_fmt /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US; echo $?
date_fmt "%a %d %b %Y %r %Z"
0

Jammy: 
=====================
$ grep ^date_fmt /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US; echo $?
date_fmt "%a %b %e %r %Z %Y"
0

Can we please ensure consistency in the `date_fmt` for these 3 releases,
so it doesn't change 3 different ways when upgrading through releases?

** Affects: glibc (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2007611

Title:
  Undocumented date format (via date_fmt) change from Bionic to Focal,
  then reverted again from Focal to Jammy

Status in glibc package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  It seems like the output of `date` has changed between Bionic, Focal
  and Jammy, resulting from the lack of, inclusion of and subsequent
  removal of the `date_fmt` line in the `/usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US`
  file included in the glibc package.

  Since this change is not reflected in the ChangeLog for those
  respective releases, I'm wondering what the motivator for that change
  was, and if we can be consistent in the format of that file in those
  versions of the package.

  https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool/main/g/glibc/glibc_2.37-0ubuntu1/changelog

  ubuntu at date-bionic-repro:~$ date
  Thu Feb 16 20:34:21 UTC 2023

  ubuntu at date-focal-repro:~$ date
  Thu 16 Feb 2023 08:34:21 PM UTC

  ubuntu at date-jammy-repro:~$ date
  Thu Feb 16 08:34:21 PM UTC 2023

  In each of these versions, we see:

  Bionic:
  =====================
  $ grep ^date_fmt /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US; echo $?
  1

  Focal:
  =====================
  $ grep ^date_fmt /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US; echo $?
  date_fmt "%a %d %b %Y %r %Z"
  0

  Jammy: 
  =====================
  $ grep ^date_fmt /usr/share/i18n/locales/en_US; echo $?
  date_fmt "%a %b %e %r %Z %Y"
  0

  Can we please ensure consistency in the `date_fmt` for these 3
  releases, so it doesn't change 3 different ways when upgrading through
  releases?

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