@@ -, +, @@ 
 See Council meetings of 2009-10-12 and 2009-12-07.
---
 eapi-differences.tex |    4 ++++
 merge.tex            |   40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
--- a/eapi-differences.tex	
+++ a/eapi-differences.tex	
@@ -261,6 +261,9 @@ Controllable compression & \compactfeatureref{controllable-compress} & No & No &
 \t{default} function & \compactfeatureref{default-func} & No & No &
     \IFANYKDEBUILDELSE{\IFKDEBUILDCOLOUR{No} &}{} Yes & Yes & Yes \\
 
+File mtimes preserved & \compactfeatureref{mtime-preserve} & Undefined & Undefined &
+    \IFANYKDEBUILDELSE{\IFKDEBUILDCOLOUR{Undefined} &}{} Undefined & Yes & Yes \\
+
 \end{longtable}
 \end{landscape}
 
@@ -327,6 +330,7 @@ EAPI 2 is EAPI 1 with the following changes:
 
 EAPI 3 is EAPI 2 with the following changes:
 \begin{compactitem}
+\item File modification times are preserved, \featureref{mtime-preserve}.
 \item (to be completed)
 \end{compactitem}
 
--- a/merge.tex	
+++ a/merge.tex	
@@ -60,8 +60,44 @@ 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}
+
+\featurelabel{mtime-preserve}
+In EAPIs listed in table~\ref{tab:mtime-preserve}, the package manager
+must preserve modification times of regular files. This includes files
+being compressed before merging. Exceptions to this are files newly
+created by the package manager and binary object files being stripped
+of symbols.
+
+The integer seconds part of the modification time is guaranteed to be
+preserved. The package manager may also preserve sub-second
+timestamps; in this case, the full precision available with the
+underlying operating system, filesystems, and programming language
+must be used. Timestamps of all files installed in the same
+destination filesystem must be handled in a consistent way, especially
+their ordering must be preserved.
+
+In other EAPIs, the behaviour with respect to file modification times
+is undefined.
+
+\begin{centertable}{Preservation of file modification times (mtimes)}
+    \label{tab:mtime-preserve}
+    \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 \\
+    \t{4} & Yes \\
+    \bottomrule
+    \end{tabular}
+\end{centertable}
 
 \subsection{Configuration File Protection}
 \label{sec:config-protect}
--