boolean retry = true;

            // this will run at most twice. The first time, the firstRun flag is turned off, and if the retry flag
            // is set on the first run, it will be turned off and not re-set on the second try. This is because the
            // only way the retry flag can be set is if ( firstRun == true ).
            while (firstRun || retry) {

                if (pomFile.canRead()) {
                    return length != pomFile.length() || timestamp != pomFile.lastModified();
                } else {
                    // if the POM didn't exist, retry if any repo is configured to always update
                    boolean snapshot = pomArtifact.isSnapshot();
                    for (ArtifactRepository repository : remoteRepositories) {