digiKam refuses unwaveringly to update modification timestamps when I change e.g. tags on images. I looked in the settings but couldn't find an appropriate option...

I see that this behavior might be useful for certain use cases but I need to routinely backup my data and when the timestamps don't change the changed files are basically invisible to any backup program. Using the adjust time & date tool each time isn't viable at all.

Please tell me this can be changed :-S

I forgot to add: I'm saving tags directly to files, hence the problem.

The file system modification times must have changed, otherwise the changes are not being saved to the file. I have a feeling that the tags are being saved into Digikam's database, not the files themselves.

I just double checked: I compared checksums before and after, they are different, so the files definitely have changed but the modification timestamp didn't budge. digiKam also is telling me "writing metadata to files", which can take a while with a huge number of files.

I wonder if this is a bug or a feature?

I found out this is indeed a bug but it's already solved in trunk and will hit us with 0.11.0/KDE 4.3. Marking as solved.