@@ -, +, @@ 
---
 merge.tex |   30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
--- a/merge.tex	
+++ a/merge.tex	
@@ -60,8 +60,34 @@ as follows:
     set*id bit set.
 \end{compactitem}
 
-On SELinux systems, the SELinux context must also be preserved. Other file attributes, including
-modification time, may be discarded.
+On SELinux systems, the SELinux context must also be preserved. Other
+file attributes may be discarded.
+
+\subsection{File modification times}
+
+In EAPIs listed in table~\ref{tab:mtime-preservation}, the package
+manager must preserve modification times of regular files. This includes
+files being compressed before merging. Other operations modifying the
+file contents, e.g., stripping symbols from an object file, may update
+its modification time accordingly.
+
+In other EAPIs, the behaviour with respect to file modification times is
+undefined.
+
+\begin{centertable}{Preservation of file modification times (mtimes)}
+    \label{tab:mtime-preservation}
+    \begin{tabular}{ l l }
+        \toprule
+            \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{EAPI}} &
+            \multicolumn{1}{c}{\textbf{mtimes preserved?}} \\
+            \midrule
+    \t{0} & Undefined \\
+    \t{1} & Undefined \\
+    \t{2} & Undefined \\
+    \t{3} & Yes \\
+    \bottomrule
+    \end{tabular}
+\end{centertable}
 
 \subsection{Configuration File Protection}
 \label{sec:config-protect}
--