Bug#998059: sphinx: LANGUAGE environment variable inconsistently affects output of objects.inv
Source: sphinx
Followup-For: Bug #998059
X-Debbugs-Cc: debian-python@lists.debian.org
(context: cross-posting based on an idea[1] that has been discussed upstream in sphinx's GitHub repository about how to resolve locale-based build variance)
The SPHINXOPTS[2] environment variable provides a way to selectively override defined environment variables (such as LANGUAGE) in a way that should only affect sphinx (limiting the effects on unrelated build steps).
For example:
SPHINXOPTS='-D LANGUAGE="en_US.UTF-8"'
That would allow the objects.inv file to be built in a fixed language on a per-package basis.
It doesn't seem ideal to artificially limit documentation localization for affected packages, but could allow many of the affected packages to pass diffoscope reproducibility testing.
Alternatives explored: I wasn't able to identify a straightforward, supported way to disable creation of the objects.inv file, nor is it currently possible to invoke a multi-locale HTML sphinx build (an approach that might permit output of monolithic documentation outputs that wouldn't vary based on build environment locale). I'll file a feature request for the former; the latter is tracked by an existing request[3].
[1] - https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/9778#issuecomment-1264065231
[2] - https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/blob/v4.5.0/doc/man/sphinx-build.rst#environment-variables
[3] - https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/788
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