May 1998 - tz - lists.iana.org

Re: tz interface problems
by D. J. Bernstein June 1, 1998

June 1, 1998

1. I have code that synchronizes a system to TAI-10 using an NTP=UTC source. See http://pobox.com/~djb/clockspeed.html. 2. My specific proposal for /etc/leapsecs.dat is a list of 8-byte leap seconds in TAI64 format. See http://pobox.com/~djb/proto/tai64.txt. For sample code, see leapsecs* in the clockspeed package. 3. The fact that some operating systems ship with crippled leap-second support doesn't change the need for easy leap-second updates on other systems. The fact that a few operating systems make it easy to run zic doesn't change the need for binary-only installations on other systems. 4. I don't see why anyone should waste time or energy on unused ideas such as negative leap seconds or rolling leap seconds. There's ample time to add these features if they are ever necessary. Arguments about ``getting the code right'' are silly: the code will have to be upgraded anyway in a few thousand years to support some post-Gregorian calendar. ---Dan

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tzcode1998e.tar.gz and tzdata1998e.tar.gz
by Olson, Arthur David May 30, 1998

May 30, 1998

The files ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzcode1998e.tar.gz and ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata1998e.tar.gz are now available. The Makefile is changed to produce zoneinfo-posix rather than zoneinfo/posix, and to produce zoneinfo-leaps rather than zoneinfo/right. The data changes recently circulated by Paul Eggert on the time zone mailing list are incorporated, as are the changes from Guy Harris to provide asctime_r and ctime_r. And a usno1998 file (substantially identical to usno1997) has been added. --ado

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Top Quality Web Sites for Business
by netangel＠ml.angel.net.org May 30, 1998

May 30, 1998

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zoneinfo-right; leap seconds
by Olson, Arthur David May 28, 1998

May 28, 1998

I've incorporated Guy Harris' asctime_r and ctime_r changes, Paul Eggert's data changes, and Paul's Makefile change to create zoneinfo-right and zoneinfo-posix rather than zoneinfo/right and zoneinfo/posix. Before making new tz...gz stuff available, though, a question: might a name more neutral than "zoneinfo-right" be better? (I'm mindful of our past experience with "Pacific-New"; I don't want to unnecessarily tempt folks to replace "zoneinfo" with "zoneinfo-right".) On leap seconds: having a single leap second file would eliminate the ability to have "rolling" leap seconds. (This was provided when, one year, the city of New York announced that the countdown for the dropping of the big ball that marks the beginning of the new year would run "3...2...1...LEAP...Happy New Year!", putting the leap second at midnight local time. The time zone data as distributed reflects internationally agreed leap-second-occurs-at-the-same-instant-everywhere-on-Earth behavior.) --ado

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Time zone converter, FAQ (kind of)
by Dee Ann Abel May 28, 1998

May 28, 1998

Time zone gurus, I am working on adding some notes to the Burbs Time Zone Converter (http://www.burbs.com/cgi-bin/tzconvert.pl) that will, I hope, reduce the number of questions I get. I have the following so far. Please let me know if I there are mistakes or if you have suggestions on something I should add: "The database that this converter is based on has been in widespread use for more than ten years. It is well maintained. Current common conversions (such as North American, European, Australian, and Japanese conversions) are most likely correct.", "'EST', 'CST', 'MST', and 'PST' do not take into consideration daylight savings time. These are US designations.", "Keep in mind that Australia's summer, and therefore their daylight savings time, is opposite the northern hemisphere.", "Saskatchewan (Canada) does not observe daylight savings time, and is six hours behind GMT throughout the year.", "Part of Indiana (US), including Indianapolis, does not observe daylight savings time, and is five hours behind GMT throughout the year.", "MST stands for US Mountain Standard Time, not Mid-Europe Summer Time. Use CET for the time in Central Europe.", "EST stands for US Eastern Standard Time. This is not an Australian time zone.", Thank you! Dee Ann Abel --------------------------------------------- Backgammon Ladder http://www.burbs.com/backgammon/ Please include your ladder name and, where relevent, your opponents name, preferably in the subject, in e-mail messages to backgammon(a)burbs.com Thanks! Check http://www.burbs.com/cgi-bin/tzconvert.pl for help with time zones.

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Time zone converter bug report
by Dee Ann Abel May 26, 1998

May 26, 1998

Time zone gurus, I use the time zone database developed by this group in my time zone converter (http://www.burbs.com/cgi-bin/tzconvert.pl) I refer to it in the help files for the converter as the "NIH database" but that isn't really right. How should I refer to this database? I had a few bugs in the interface (I've addressed most of them), and decided to put a "bug reporter" up. Through this I expect that from time to time I will receive reports like this one, below. I thought I'd forward them on to this list so that they could either be explained or addressed. Thanks, Dee Ann Abel Note: The converter reports that their is currently two hours difference >Subject: Time zone converter bug report > >userAgent = Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows 95) >appName = Microsoft Internet Explorer >appVersion = 2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows 95) >email = marylouf(a)cba.org >errorType = other >comments = Saskatchewan only observes daylight savings time in the winter. (Currently, there is only a 1 hour time difference between EST and Sask. time) > >Input_year => 1998 >Input_BugReportForm.x => 10 >Input_BugReportForm.y => 11 >Input_oclock => PM >Input_day => 25 >Input_tzone1 => Canada/ >Input_tzone2 => East-Saskatchewan >Input_language => en >Input_month => 5 >Input_zone1 => Canada/ >Input_zone2 => Eastern >Input_thetime => 1:00 >

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RE: tz interface problems
by Olson, Arthur David May 25, 1998

May 25, 1998

I've removed D. J. Bernstein from the time zone mailing list. --ado

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Re a little help
by Sue Ann Bowling May 25, 1998

May 25, 1998

So far as time zones for remote stations providing met data, there should be something about the current time zone, at least, at the world meteorological organization, since observations are reduced to UT. Sue Ann Bowling, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks Professional URL <http://climate.gi.alaska.edu/Bowling/Bowling.html> Dog URL<http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/DogPage.html>

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a little help? (ok, maybe more than just a litte)
by CHancuff May 25, 1998

May 25, 1998

I know this is rather bold for my first post to this list. I need some assistance in the current time zone and DST information on the following places. UTC variation and begining and ending dates of DST (if observed) would be great. ASHMORE AND CARTIER ISLANDS BAKER ISLAND BASSAS DA INDIA BOUVET ISLAND BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY CLIPPERTON ISLAND CORAL SEA ISLANDS EUROPA ISLAND FRENCH SOUTHERN AND ANARCTIC LANDS GAZA STRIP GUERNSEY HEARD ISLAND AND MACDONALD ISLANDS HOWLAND ISLAND ISLE OF MAN JARVIS ISLAND JERSEY JUAN DE NOVA ISLAND MONTENEGRO NAVASSA ISLAND PALMYRA ATOLL PARACEL ISLANDS PITCAIRN ISLANDS SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH SPRATLY ISLANDS TOKELAU TROMELIN ISLAND VATICAN CITY WESTERN SAHARA TIA (timidly said) Cliff Hancuff

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error in zone.tab
by Alex LIVINGSTON May 25, 1998

May 25, 1998

I believe I've spotted an error in the zone.tab file: NZ -4355+17630 Pacific/Chatham Chatham Island Isn't Chatham Island east of the 180 degree meridian (though west of the "International Date Line")? _______________ Alex LIVINGSTON Macintosh Support IT, Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), Uni. of NSW (UNSW) Fax: +61 2 9931-9349 / Phone: +61 2 9931-9264 / Time: UTC + 10 or 11 h.

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