With pdflatex, it is possible to create PDF files that are acceptable by arxiv even without sources (with hyperref + \pdfsuppressptexinfo=1, see Making an anonymous PDF file using PDFLaTeX).
However, I don't manage to create such a PDF using lualatex.
With LuaLaTeX, what is the equivalent of \pdfsuppressptexinfo=1?
The (extended) equivalent to
\pdfsuppressptexinfo is \pdfvariable suppressoptionalinfo \numexpr number\relax see the luatex documentation. So something like this works:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{
pdfcreator = {},
pdfproducer = {}
}
\pdfvariable suppressoptionalinfo \numexpr 1+2+4+8+16+32+64+128+256+512 \relax
\begin{document}
abc
\end{document}
hyperref: \pdfextension info {/Creator() /Producer()}
Instead of working against the system, work with it. You have a valid submission but due to technical reasons, the system ("their") fails to succesfully submit it. That's it.
LuaLatex (and friends) is not less valid than Word, LibreOffice etc. to produce a PDF.
I submitted as PDF, failed, wrote them, they flagged the submission as "non-LaTex", done. Therefore, my LaTex PDF "became" acceptable by arxiv.
Additional bonus: they learn about this and may rather accomodate LuaLatex (& friends) in the future; knowing that a feature is needed is a large motivation for devs ;)
