December 2006 - tz - lists.iana.org

proposed tz change for Latvia, Lithuania
by Paul Eggert May 25, 2015

May 25, 2015

It's March Madness time for daylight-saving rule changes. Here's a proposed change to the tz database to keep up with the latest political development, which affects time stamps starting March 29: * Latvia and Lithuania will not observe DST, starting this year. Thanks to Andrei Ivanov for this info. =================================================================== RCS file: RCS/europe,v retrieving revision 2000.3 retrieving revision 2000.3.0.1 diff -pu -r2000.3 -r2000.3.0.1 --- europe 2000/03/04 15:31:08 2000.3 +++ europe 2000/03/08 17:48:59 2000.3.0.1 @@ -1135,6 +1135,12 @@ Link Europe/Rome Europe/San_Marino # 1997-01-21 on transition to Summer time ... established the same order of # daylight savings time settings as in the States of the European Union. +# From Andrei Ivanov (2000-03-06): +# This year Latvia will not switch to Daylight Savings Time (as specified in +# <a href="http://www.lv-laiks.lv/wwwraksti/2000/071072/vd4.htm"> +# The Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Rep. of Latvia of +# 29-Feb-2000 (#79)</a>, in Latvian for subscribers only). + # Rule NAME FROM TO TYPE IN ON AT SAVE LETTER/S Rule Latvia 1989 1996 - Mar lastSun 2:00s 1:00 S Rule Latvia 1989 1996 - Sep lastSun 2:00s 0 - @@ -1151,7 +1157,8 @@ Zone Europe/Riga 1:36:24 - LMT 1880 3:00 Russia MSK/MSD 1989 Mar lastSun 2:00s 2:00 1:00 EEST 1989 Sep lastSun 2:00s 2:00 Latvia EE%sT 1997 Jan 21 - 2:00 EU EE%sT + 2:00 EU EE%sT 2000 Feb 29 + 2:00 - EET # Liechtenstein # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] @@ -1178,6 +1185,11 @@ Zone Europe/Vaduz 0:38:04 - LMT 1894 Jun # motion to give up shifting to summer time in spring, as it was # already done by Estonia. +# From Andrei Ivanov (2000-03-06): +# I've heard that Ministers of three Baltic countries on their summit +# somewhere in February decided not to switch to summer time starting from +# this spring. + # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone Europe/Vilnius 1:41:16 - LMT 1880 1:24:00 - WMT 1917 # Warsaw Mean Time @@ -1192,7 +1204,8 @@ Zone Europe/Vilnius 1:41:16 - LMT 1880 2:00 C-Eur EE%sT 1998 2:00 - EET 1998 Mar 29 1:00u 1:00 EU CE%sT 1999 Oct 31 1:00u - 2:00 EU EE%sT + 2:00 EU EE%sT 2000 Feb + 2:00 - EET # Luxembourg # Whitman disagrees with most of these dates in minor ways; go with Shanks.

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Tomsk wrong timezone
by Jesper Norgaard Welen Feb. 18, 2011

Feb. 18, 2011

A quote from the 'europe' file: # Novosibirskaya oblast'. Zone Asia/Novosibirsk 5:31:40 - LMT 1919 Dec 14 6:00 6:00 - NOVT 1930 Jun 21 # Novosibirsk Time 7:00 Russia NOV%sT 1991 Mar 31 2:00s 6:00 Russia NOV%sT 1992 Jan 19 2:00s 7:00 Russia NOV%sT 1993 May 23 # say Shanks & P. 6:00 Russia NOV%sT # # From Oscar van Vlijmen (2001-08-25): [This region consists of] # Kemerovskaya oblast', Krasnoyarskij kraj, # Tajmyrskij (Dolgano-Nenetskij) avtonomnyj okrug, Tomskaya oblast', # Respublika Tuva, Respublika Khakasiya, Evenkijskij avtonomnyj okrug. Zone Asia/Krasnoyarsk 6:11:20 - LMT 1920 Jan 6 6:00 - KRAT 1930 Jun 21 # Krasnoyarsk Time 7:00 Russia KRA%sT 1991 Mar 31 2:00s 6:00 Russia KRA%sT 1992 Jan 19 2:00s 7:00 Russia KRA%sT In fact, it seems that Tomsk city and Tomskaya oblast' is part of the Novosibirsk timezone, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomskaya_Oblast%27%2C_Russia and http://www.admin.tomsk.ru/1024 ... the latter, if you don't understand russian, look at the time under the green horse. I don't know if this simply means that Tomskaya oblast' changed timezone since 2001, which is a possibility, that would then require a new timezone. Regards, - Jesper Jesper Nørgaard Welen Email: jnorgard(a)Prodigy.Net.mx Project Leader (Líder de Proyecto) Software CIMMYT - Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo Dirección: CIMMYT Int. c/o Jesper Nørgaard Km. 45, Carretera México-Veracruz El Batán Texcoco, Edo. de México CP 56130 MEXICO Tel.: +52 (55) 58-04-20-04 ext. 1374 Fax: +52 (55) 58-04-75-58 Tel. Casa: 53-10-05-95 ó 53-10-97-78 Download the shareware program World Time Explorer, I made: http://www.worldtimeexplorer.com/index.html

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Chinese timezones 1970
by Jesper Norgaard Welen Sept. 14, 2008

Sept. 14, 2008

I have investigated the timezones around 1970 on the http://www.astro.com/atlas site, and here are the results. I am attaching a GIF file of the map I have built based on this information. The red borders are the modern-time administrative borders, while the green lines are the timezone borders I have determined, note that some of them are partially hidden behind the red lines. There are no big surprises. Most timezones follow modern-day administrative boundaries, with the exceptions being Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet), Qinghai, Gansu, Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia) and Guangdong. There was an exception in Heliongjiang region on GMT+8.5 where the northern-most county Mohe is on GMT+8. A few other exceptions were two counties on the Sichuan side of the Xizang - Sichuan border, counties Dege and Baiyu which lies on the Sichuan side and are therefore supposed to be GMT+7, Xizang region being GMT+6, but Dege county is GMT+8 according to astro.com while Baiyu county is GMT+6 (could be true), for the moment I am assuming that those two counties are mistakes in the astro.com data. The biggest surprise was that region Guangdong were dived in 3 timezones, a south/west part on GMT+6 (counties Xuwen, Haikang, Suixi, Lianjiang, Zhanjiang, Wuchuan, Huazhou, Gaozhou, Maoming, Dianbai, Xinyi) a central part on GMT+7 (counties Yangchun, Yangjiang, Taishan, Kaiping, Xinxing, Luoding, Yu'nan, Yunfu, Taishan, Deqing and Enping) and a north/east part on GMT+8 with the rest of the counties. Zone Asia/Harbin on GMT+8.5: regions Heilongjiang (minus Mohe) and Jilin. Zone Asia/Shanghai on GMT+8: regions east Nei Mongol, Liaoning, Hebei + Beijing, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, north/east Guangdong and Mohe county of Heilongjiang. Zone Asia/Chongqing on GMT+7: regions west Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, east Gansu, west Qinghai, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hainan island and the central part of Guangdong province. Zone Asia/Urumqi on GMT+6: regions east Xinjiang, west Gansu (counties Dunhuang, Aksay, Anxi, Subei), west Qinghai, east Xizang (Tibet) and east Guangdong. Zone Asia/Kashgar on GMT+5: regions west Xinjiang, west Xizang. Regards, - Jesper Jesper Nørgaard Welen Email: jnorgard(a)Prodigy.Net.mx Project Leader (Líder de Proyecto) Software CIMMYT - Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo Dirección: CIMMYT Int. c/o Jesper Nørgaard Km. 45, Carretera México-Veracruz El Batán Texcoco, Edo. de México CP 56130 MEXICO Tel.: +52 (55) 58-04-20-04 ext. 1374 Fax: +52 (55) 58-04-75-58 Tel. Casa: 53-10-05-95 ó 53-10-97-78 Download the shareware program World Time Explorer, I made: http://www.worldtimeexplorer.com/index.html

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Two tzcode fixes
by Petr Baudis March 7, 2007

March 7, 2007

(Resending with correct mailing list address.) Hi, when checking a diff between tzcode2006o and the current glibc CVS, I've noticed two changes in glibc which were AFAICS never pushed upstream. Both were committed by Ulrich Drepper: [PATCH] (tofile;): Fix typo in symlink creation. Tue, 20 Dec 2005 07:55:45 +0000 timezone/zic.c | 2 +- 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-) diff --git a/timezone/zic.c b/timezone/zic.c index 57dc531..4e3f42f 100644 --- a/timezone/zic.c +++ b/timezone/zic.c @@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ const char * const tofile; "../"); symlinkcontents = ecatalloc(symlinkcontents, - fromfile); + fromname); result = symlink(symlinkcontents, toname); if (result == 0) [PATCH] Fix spelling in message. Thu, 21 Sep 2006 03:57:30 +0000 timezone/zdump.c | 2 +- 8 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-) diff --git a/timezone/zdump.c b/timezone/zdump.c index 45ce641..d525da1 100644 --- a/timezone/zdump.c +++ b/timezone/zdump.c @@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ _("%s: usage is %s [ --version ] [ -v ] } if (fflush(stdout) || ferror(stdout)) { (void) fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", progname); - (void) perror(_("Error writing standard output")); + (void) perror(_("Error writing to standard output")); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } exit(EXIT_SUCCESS); -- Petr "Pasky" Baudis Stuff: http://pasky.or.cz/ The meaning of Stonehenge in Traflamadorian, when viewed from above, is: "Replacement part being rushed with all possible speed." -- Kurt Vonnegut, Sirens from Titan

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FW: time in southeastern Western Australia
by Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] Feb. 9, 2007

Feb. 9, 2007

I'm forwarding this message from Alex Livingston who, after sending it, has subscribed to the time zone mailing list. --ado -----Original Message----- From: LIVINGSTON Alex [mailto:lial@mac.com] Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 11:57 PM To: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov Subject: time in southeastern Western Australia Apologies if this has already been covered. I checked the latest tzdata file and there seems to be no mention of it. I have been meaning to write this for nearly four years; it was just on four years ago that I drove along the Eyre Highway, which passes through eastern Western Australia close to the southern coast of the continent. I paid particular attention to the time kept there. There can be no dispute that UTC+08:45 was considered "the time" from the border village just inside the border with South Australia to as far west as just east of Caiguna. There can also be no dispute that Eucla is the largest population centre in this zone, having a population of "40 or 50" (from memory what the proprietor of the roadhouse said when I asked him); it even has named side streets off the highway, and a very modern meteorological observatory and office. The other settlements, Cocklebiddy, Madura, Mundrabilla, and the border village, have much smaller permanent populations (around a dozen at most). So if a new zone were to be added to the tz database it should be called "Australia/Eucla". To back up my assertions I was going to refer to photographs I took of the three clocks at the border crossing (showing, Perth, local, and Adelaide time, respectively) and of the clearly "official" sign (galvanised-steel posts and frame, well-cut rectangular sheet-metal plate with rounded corners, stencilled lettering, and reflective paint) proclaiming "Central Western Time" that is seen just after leaving Caiguna heading east, but I have not published them yet and I do not have the time to check them now. (I think the sign also says, in smaller lettering, "Advance Clocks 45 Minutes".) This zone is also shown on the excellent map at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Timezones_optimized.png (obviously based on the CIA time-zone map). "Central Western Time" is mentioned in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone, where an estimated population for this region of 200 (according with what I would have guessed) is also given. (Unfortunately the phrase "Western Central Standard Time" is used in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Australia to refer to the same thing.) Now that Western Australia is observing daylight saving, the question arose whether this part of the state would follow suit. I just called the border village [+61 (0)8 9039-3474; from online white pages] and confirmed that indeed they have, meaning that they are now observing UTC+09:45. There is one more curiosity to report about this isolated part of the world. The old Eyre telegraph station, just behind the coastal sand dunes southeast of Cocklebiddy, is now run as a bird observatory as well as a weather station and guest house. Its permanent population is 2 (a caretaker couple). I stayed there for a night on my way through and noticed that they kept a time different both from Perth and "the highway" (phrase used by caretaker; see below); they have a clock in their kitchen with a Dymo label on it stating "Eyre Std. Time" (I took a picture). It was UT+09:00, meaning a whole hour ahead of Perth, making their checking and reporting of weather data (which the Perth weather bureau expects to be done according to Perth time) simpler. I have just called them [+61 (0)8 9039-3450, also from online white pages], and they too have advanced their clocks with the rest of the state, putting them on UTC+10:00 and maintaining their one-hour difference from Perth. As far as I'm concerned this warrants another time zone, Australia/Eyre, despite the tiny permanent population! I seem to remember that what matters to this list is what time people actually keep, not statutory status. I hope the hour or two I've spent preparing and writing this turns out to be of some value.

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The Bahamas has changed DST rules
by Sue Williams Jan. 2, 2007

Jan. 2, 2007

The Bahamas announced about a month ago that they plan to change their DST rules to sinc with the U.S. starting in 2007. The attached fax was provided by the Bahama Cabinet office. I was also able to find a corresponding newpaper announcement in the Bahama Journal dated 30 October 2006. http://www.jonesbahamas.com/?c=45&a=10412 _____________________________ Susan J Williams Program Director, IBM Globalization Leadership Team, Globalization Requirements _____________________________

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RE: Question about "only" RULE lines
by David Braverman Dec. 29, 2006

Dec. 29, 2006

> it's the last ... rule in effect, which is 1919 Oct > lastSun at 2:00, i.e., standard time. Thank you. That part wasn't clear from the docs. > You can debug your understanding by using the command > "zdump -v America/Chicago". Well, actually I can't, since I'm stuck using Wintel systems. And while I can read C at about the level that most 13-year-olds read Hebrew (and for almost exactly the same reasons), I had some difficulty getting through the raw zdump.c code. Any tips for compiling it using MSVC? I'm a little out of my depth here.

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Mataveri only airport?
by Jesper Norgaard Welen Dec. 27, 2006

Dec. 27, 2006

Acording to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Islands the real capital of Easter Island is not Mataveri, but Hanga Roa, where most people of Easter Island live. Mataveri is famous for the Mataveri International Airport. Should we change the capital in the tz database? Luckily the timezone involved is called "Pacific/Easter" so there is no problem with that. It seems that only the explicit use of Mataveri Mean Time MMT and the commentary in the southamerica file is affected. Perhaps the latitude and longitude coordinates in zone.tab. Regards, - Jesper Jesper Nørgaard Welen Email: jnorgard(a)Prodigy.Net.mx Project Leader (Líder de Proyecto) Software CIMMYT - Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo Dirección: CIMMYT Int. c/o Jesper Nørgaard Km. 45, Carretera México-Veracruz El Batán Texcoco, Edo. de México CP 56130 MEXICO Tel.: +52 (55) 58-04-20-04 ext. 1374 Fax: +52 (55) 58-04-75-58 Tel. Casa: 53-10-05-95 ó 53-10-97-78 Download the shareware program World Time Explorer, I made: http://www.worldtimeexplorer.com/index.html

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Re: Question about "only" RULE lines
by Paul Eggert Dec. 26, 2006

Dec. 26, 2006

"David Braverman" <david(a)inner-drive.com> writes: > ... > Rule US 1918 1919 - Oct lastSun 2:00 0 S > Rule US 1942 only - Feb 9 2:00 1:00 W # War > Rule US 1945 only - Aug 14 23:00u 1:00 P # Peace > Rule US 1945 only - Sep 30 2:00 0 S > ... > I can't tell what rule to follow from 1942-01-01 to 1942-02-19, then > from 1943-01-01 to 1945-08-14. I'd say it's the last US rule in effect, which is 1919 Oct lastSun at 2:00, i.e., standard time. You can debug your understanding by using the command "zdump -v America/Chicago".

1 0

Chile DST history
by Jesper Norgaard Welen Dec. 25, 2006

Dec. 25, 2006

In 2006o, a number of changes were implemented in the tz database for Chile and Easter Island and the Palmer station. One of the changes follows here: - -7:00 Chile EAS%sT 1982 Mar 13 21:00 # Easter I Time + -7:00 Chile EAS%sT 1982 Jan 18 21:00 # Easter I Time This was based on my data sent earlier, that origins from the page http://www.horaoficial.htm where it says (my translation) * By Supreme Decree No. 61, of 19.th. of January, the decree No. 1.142 of 20.th. October 1980 is modified, assigning the time GMT-6 to the Easter Islands and Salas and Gómez, this way there will be a permanent difference of 2 hours between the Chile mainland and these islands. However, in those times most decrees were issued much before the actual changes took place and I think this would also be the case here. Checking www.astro.com with Mataveri, it shows Easter Island on "6 h west, Daylight Time" on 12.th. of March 1982, but on "6 h west, Standard Time" on 14.th. of March 1982" in my interpretation GMT-6 in both cases, but the first while being on DST. My recommendation is therefore simply to revert this change, and setting the transition time back to 13.th. of March 1982 at 21:00. Regards, - Jesper Jesper Nørgaard Welen Email: jnorgard(a)Prodigy.Net.mx Project Leader (Líder de Proyecto) Software CIMMYT - Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo Dirección: CIMMYT Int. c/o Jesper Nørgaard Km. 45, Carretera México-Veracruz El Batán Texcoco, Edo. de México CP 56130 MEXICO Tel.: +52 (55) 58-04-20-04 ext. 1374 Fax: +52 (55) 58-04-75-58 Tel. Casa: 53-10-05-95 ó 53-10-97-78 Download the shareware program World Time Explorer, I made: http://www.worldtimeexplorer.com/index.html

2 1

updating oracle
by Anibal de Deus Dec. 22, 2006

Dec. 22, 2006

Is there any way to use the TZ database to update Oracle timezone DAT file?

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Fun --- someone thinks there're only 24 timezones
by Bennett Todd Dec. 21, 2006

Dec. 21, 2006

<URL:http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/11/30/10086170.html> (which I found via slashdot -> wired) describes a building, and mentions: [...] the company plans to build 23 more rotating towers in each of the world's time zones with finance provided by investors linked to the company. Maybe we should give 'em the bad news, they're gonna need a lot more than 23 more towers. One for that research station in the boonies of Australia? :-) -Bennett

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Re: Predictable problems with 3-character time zones, especially the EST/EST5EDT split.
by Paul Eggert Dec. 19, 2006

Dec. 19, 2006

John Stainforth <STAIN(a)uk.ibm.com> writes: > Our understanding is that: > > a) Before tzdata2005r... "EST" refers to the zone that is GMT-5 in Winter > and GMT-4 in Summer, then .... > b) Effective from tzdata2005r, "EST" refers only to some special area(s) > within the Eastern region that are GMT-5 all the year round. That sounds right as far as Java is concerned. But it's not a property of tzdata, it's a property of Java. As far as the tz database is concerned, TZ="EST" has never given you daylight-saving time. Here's the history. Before tzdata2005m, there was no TZ="EST" in the tz database. But we had a desire to support the old 1980s System V TZ names, "EST" being one of them, where "EST" was used in Indiana and meant eastern time with no daylight saving. I don't now recall why we were so focused on being backward-compatible with a long-dead system, but hey! we try hard to be backward-compatible. So, in tzdata2005m through tzdata2005q, TZ="EST" was implemented as an alias for America/Panama in the "backward" file, under the theory that Panama has observed UTC-5 since standard time was introduced in 1908. But this isn't satisfactory, as it mishandles time stamps before 1908, and maybe Panama will observe DST some day. So in tzdata2005r "EST" was given a zone in its own right, in the "northamerica" file. I suspect Java picked "EST" up only in 2005r because Java ignores the "backward" file. In retrospect perhaps we should have omitted these System V names, as they're now causing more trouble with Java than they're worth. Or perhaps we should move them to the "systemv" file now. But that is Arthur's call. >From the Java point of view, I would simply remove all the System V names from Java. I don't see the point of them; they just cause trouble. That is, I would pretend that the following entries don't exist in the "northamerica" file, so that you can continue with the traditional Java interpretation for them. # Zone NAME GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] Zone EST -5:00 - EST Zone MST -7:00 - MST Zone HST -10:00 - HST Zone EST5EDT -5:00 US E%sT Zone CST6CDT -6:00 US C%sT Zone MST7MDT -7:00 US M%sT Zone PST8PDT -8:00 US P%sT

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Re: Predictable problems with 3-character time zones, especially the EST/EST5EDT split.
by Paul Eggert Dec. 18, 2006

Dec. 18, 2006

John Stainforth <STAIN(a)uk.ibm.com> writes: > http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3068&context=SSNVBF&uid=swg2125… Weird. That URL claims Indiana does not observe daylight saving time, but it does (starting this year). > http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6466476 which contains > the assertion: "This means that all legacy Applets and applications which > used EST before are now broken". This is all news to me. But it appears to be an issue with Java's old names for time zones, not with the Olson database per se. So you'll have to resolve it at the Java level. You might just want to do what Sun is doing in JDK 7, and add a compatibility mode flag. Set the flag one way, and you get the traditional Java behavior where "EST" means eastern time with daylight saving (did it really mean that? wow, that's confusing). Set the flag the other way, and "EST" means eastern time without daylight saving (which is the traditional real-world meaning in this country, and is the traditional Olson interpretation as well). Perhaps you can ask Sun exactly how that flag will work, and how it will affect "HST", "MST", "PST", etc. I'll CC: this message to the tz list to see whether others have noticed the problem.

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zone and offset designators
by LIVINGSTON Alex Dec. 18, 2006

Dec. 18, 2006

Original version sent 2006 December 09 23:22:04 GMT+11:00, but did not make it to list. I have modified it (including the subject) slightly since then. I am not in favour of alphabetic abbreviations as designators of time zones or time offsets. First, their role is not well defined. Do they apply to A: a geographic region and its entire time-offset history and future, B: a particular single offset from UTC/GMT, or C: a particular set of two or more offsets from UTC/GMT and "rules" describing when changes from one of these offsets to another occur? Second, there seems to be no requirement for them to be globally or historically unique. I would support designators of the following kinds: O-1: a numeric specification of a single offset from UTC/GMT (e.g. "-04:00") Z-1: a specification applying to a point on the earth's surface and indicating the entire history (and expected future history) of the time kept at that point by nearby human beings, as in the tz database (as I understand it) Actually, I might also consent to: O-1A: a numeric specification of two (or more) offsets from UTC/GMT that apply periodically (e.g. "+10:00/+11:00"), though preferably only if such a specifier is unique in the context it is used in (+10:00/+11:00 applies both to Tasmania and mainland southeast Australia, but the two regions change from +10:00 to +11:00 at different times at present, so using that label for a time-specification offset as things currently stand would not be ideal unless it were clear from the context which changeover dates and times applied) and Z-1A: a specification applying to a well-defined, invariant region of the earth's surface and indicating the entire history (and expected future history) of the time kept by human beings occupying that region In the headings I've used to name these types of designator, the "O" indicates applicability to offsets and "Z" indicates primary applicability to zones. However, a Z (zone) designator could also be applied to an offset, in which case it means the offset that applies in that zone (which in the case of Z-1 is a point, not a region). Type O-1 is by far the easiest to work with, and perfectly adequate for many single-instant specifications. Only if (1) a period of time (including possibly a single date) or a repeating scheduled event is to be specified for a particular geographic location or (2) the offset that will apply is not yet known with adequate certainty, as it is tied to yet-to-be-finalised conventions for a particular place, might a single offset not be up to the task. (Have I missed any?) If it is judged that a zone designator for a time specification cannot be avoided, we have the problem of what time is applicable for the period (an hour in the majority of cases) after clocks are retarded, when times that have already passed in the zone are repeated. My only suggestion of what to do about this is to establish a convention that, in the absence of indication to the contrary, the second occurrence of the time specified should be assumed. There is also, of course, the related problem of what to do if a time is specified that never occurs in a zone, because it is skipped over when clocks are advanced. What else could be done besides taking such a specification to mean the instant of the changeover? If some apparent standard or official abbreviated designator is not clear, a lot of effort seems to be put into crafting a "suitable" one for the field labelled (for reasons that aren't all that clear to me) "FORMAT" in the tzdata files. I get the impression that people derive a sense of security from the authority and credibility supposedly lent to time specifications by such labels. Only it is a false sense of security, I would contend. These abbreviations seem to be seized upon by implementors of time-management software as though "official" and indispensable and to be used wherever plausible. I would like to see such enthusiasm diverted to the use, instead, of far less ambiguous and far more informative and helpful designators (like type O-1 especially). I might also add my vehement objection to using numbers derived from time offsets to label zones when the offset indicated by the number does not always apply. An example of this is "EST5EDT". Using offsets to label zones seems from my experience to be almost standard practice in time-related software, but it is grossly misleading when, as is very often the case, the indicated offset simply does not apply for part, indeed sometimes the majority, of the year. If numeric designators of such zones _must_ be used, then _both_ (or all, should there ever be more than two) offsets should be indicated (with equal emphasis). I would, as well, completely avoid the use of the term "standard" to distinguish one of two (or more) offsets that apply in a given zone. It may sometimes be a designation given by a relevant authority, but it is by no means always used, and it is a very poor choice for a generic designation of the less advanced of two offsets that apply at a particular location, since it is far from clear that a standard exists from which the offset that applies could be unambiguously inferred. I think any attempt at pinning down a particular offset as "standard" for a place or region based on longitude should be abandoned. Exceptions - cases of times being kept that deviate considerably from what one would expect (if it is clear at all) given the longitude - are not rare but abundant. Let me list some: the Aleutians, Alaska, Argentina, the Azores, Iceland, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Spain and France, peninsula Malaysia and Singapore, central Australia, parts of far-eastern Russia, the Chatham Islands, and, of course, though not true of the zone as a whole, western China. The term "standard" is applicable to whatever offset is being observed: it is the standard set by those (in authority) observing it (and their subjects). I suggest the terms "basis" and "advanced" instead as generic distinguishers of the two offsets that are periodically observed at any particular location (the latter applying to the offset that is "ahead"), though "winter" and "summer" are also not bad, except that "summer" cannot be unambiguously abbreviated to "S". "Advanced" and "Basis" have the pleasing property of having initials "A" and "B", "A" time being ahead of "B" time. Should more than two offsets ever annually apply to a zone, subsequent letters of the alphabet could be used to distinguish them. I hope I haven't strayed into territory outside the purview of this list.

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Parliamentary Library research note on Australian DST
by Paul Eggert Dec. 15, 2006

Dec. 15, 2006

Last week the Parliamentary Library of Australia issued a research note on daylight saving time in Austrlia. <http://www.aph.gov.au/LIBRARY/Pubs/rn/2006-07/07rn13.pdf>. Of some note: "EST" is listed before "AEST", and similarly for "CST" and "WST", so this is some semiofficial sanction for the abbreviations the tz database uses. The note mentions Eucla time, giving Wikipedia as the reference! (So much for the Australian Parliament being authoritative on the subject of Australian time zones....) It has a strange copyright notice: Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act of 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written concent of the Department of Parliamentary Services, other than by senators and members of the Australian Parliemant in the course of their official duties. This makes it sound like I didn't have permission to download it off the net, but perhaps I should just ascribe this strange wording to hyperactive Australian copyright lawyers.

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Australia - Broken Hill - Yancowinna
by Oscar van Vlijmen Dec. 15, 2006

Dec. 15, 2006

Broken Hill, or more precise, the whole county of Yancowinna, differs from the rest of New South Wales, as clearly stated in the TZ database. Problem is: what is the "county of Yancowinna"? The Australian Standard Time Act 1987 mentions this county, but doesn't mention the county boundaries. Once they were known, but they have disappeared from recent maps. Finally I found a scan of an old map from the Land Registry, showing the Yancowinna county. Found on the website of The Sydney Morning Herald: <http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/29/1062050651816.html?oneclick=true> Click on field number 2 or download the map directly: <http://www.smh.com.au/specials/leases/pdf/map2.pdf> The following places are within the county boundaries: Broken Hill, The Gorge, Mount Gipps, Silverton, Stephens Creek, Wahratta, Yanco Glen. The name "Wahratta" is not perfectly readable from the map, but I've checked the name and location against the Australia file from the GEOnet Names Server <http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/> Oscar van Vlijmen 2005-04-23

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RE: tz news from Galicia, Queensland and (of course) Indiana
by Phillip Guerra Dec. 14, 2006

Dec. 14, 2006

What a story! I wish the world would standardize, it would ease the technical issues with my time machine (The Vortal). I can't go back and forth in time for fear I'd land someplace in the moment when I shouldn't. Now, I have to just 'wing' it, and there have been a lot of close calls, I can tell you. I can also tell you that it won't happen any time soon. ;) -----Original Message----- From: Eric Muller [mailto:emuller@adobe.com] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 2:53 AM To: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov Cc: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov Subject: Re: tz news from Galicia, Queensland and (of course) Indiana Paul Eggert wrote: > The Budd Insurance Agency has a special clock with one minute hand but > two hour hands, one for each time zone: David Budd says that the clock > shows "Pulaski Time". > What about a clock with 12 hour hands and 4(?) minute hands (the "World Time" clock)? Eric. Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s), and may contain privileged or confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by replying to this email, and destroy all copies of the original message.

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tz news from Galicia, Queensland and (of course) Indiana
by Paul Eggert Dec. 12, 2006

Dec. 12, 2006

The Galician nationalist party BNG voted on December 4 to move Galicia into the same time zone as Portugal and the UK. The other parties disagree, though. See <http://www.santiago-today.com/index.php?q=04-dec-2006-galician_nationalist_…> (2006-12-04). Queensland is considering holding a referendum on daylight saving early next year. The idea is that the southeast corner would observe DST. However, they haven't decided yet whether Toowoomba and half of Cooloola shire fall into that southeast corner. See <http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Qld-to-study-daylight-saving-early-2007…>. The Democrats have regained control of the Indiana House and are pushing for a "nonbinding" referendum on daylight saving time for Indiana. Republicans seem firmly in the pro-daylight-saving camp. See Dan Shaw's story in the Journal and Courier <http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061109/ELECTION01/6110…>. Tom Wyatt of the Post-Tribune reports that the citizens of Pulaski county, Indiana have mostly voted with their feet for eastern time, and it's likely this will become official soon. Because the federal government threatened to cut off funds if the county did not observe central time while central time is official, government offices all observe central time. However, they've moved their hours to be consistent with eastern time. For example, the post office is now open 07:30/15:30 central time, whereas it used to be open 08:30/16:30. The school district observes eastern time but calls it "Commerce Time" so that they won't run afoul of the feds. Many businesses (e.g., the 1st Source Bank) use eastern time, but some (e.g., Ed's Barbershop) use central time. The Budd Insurance Agency has a special clock with one minute hand but two hour hands, one for each time zone: David Budd says that the clock shows "Pulaski Time". See <http://www.post-trib.com/news/150389,winamac.article> (2006-11-27).

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time-zone designators
by LIVINGSTON Alex Dec. 9, 2006

Dec. 9, 2006

I am not in favour of alphabetic abbreviations as designators of time zones. First, their role is not well defined. Do they apply to A: a geographic region and its entire time-offset history and future, B: a particular single offset from UTC/GMT, or C: a particular set of two or more offsets from UTC/GMT and "rules" describing when changes from one of these offsets to another occur? Second, there seems to be no requirement for them to be globally or historically unique. I would support two types of time-offset designation: 1: a numeric specification of a single offset from UTC/GMT (e.g. -04:00) 2: a specification applying to a point on the earth's surface and indicating the entire history (and expected future history) of the time kept at that point by nearby human beings, as in the tz database (as I understand it) Actually, I might also consent to: 1A: a numeric specification of two (or more) offsets from UTC/GMT that apply periodically (e.g. +10:00/11:00), though only if such a specifier is unique in the context it is used in (+10:00/+11:00 applies both to Tasmania and mainland southeast Australia, but the two regions change from +10:00 to +11:00 at different times at present, so using that label for a zone as things currently stand would not be on) 2A: a specification applying to a well-defined, invariant region of the earth's surface and indicating the entire history (and expected future history) of the time kept by human beings occupying that region Type 1 is by far the easiest to work with, and perfectly adequate for single-instant specifications. Only if, for a particular geographic location, a period of time (including possibly a single date) or a repeating scheduled event is to be specified might a single offset not be up to the task. If some apparent standard abbreviated designator is not clear, a lot of effort seems to be put into crafting a "suitable" one for the field labelled (for reasons that aren't all that clear to me) "FORMAT" in the tzdata files. I get the impression that people derive a sense of security from the authority and credibility supposedly lent to time specifications by such labels. Only it is a false sense of security, I would contend. These abbreviations seem to be seized upon by implementors of time-management software as though "official" and indispensable and to be appended enthusiastically to time specifications. I would like to see such enthusiasm diverted to the use, instead, of far less ambiguous and far more informative and helpful designators (like type 1 especially). (I realise now that I have somewhat conflated time zones with time specifications. I don't think my comments are affected that much by this.) I hope I haven't strayed into territory outside the purview of this list.

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FW: time in southeastern Western Australia
by Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] Dec. 8, 2006

Dec. 8, 2006

I'm forwarding this message from Alex Livingston who, since sending it, has subscribed to the time zone mailing list. --ado -----Original Message----- From: LIVINGSTON Alex [mailto:lial@mac.com] Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 1:03 AM To: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov Subject: re: time in southeastern Western Australia Further to my previous message, here is a link to a picture of the sign I referred to: http://www.confluence.org/photo.php?visitid=10280&pic=7 It shows that my memory did not serve me perfectly.

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re: time in southeastern Western Australia
by LIVINGSTON Alex Dec. 7, 2006

Dec. 7, 2006

Further to my previous message, here is a link to a picture of the sign I referred to: http://www.confluence.org/photo.php?visitid=10280&pic=7 It shows that my memory did not serve me perfectly.

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time in southeastern Western Australia
by LIVINGSTON Alex Dec. 7, 2006

Dec. 7, 2006

Apologies if this has already been covered. I checked the latest tzdata file and there seems to be no mention of it. I have been meaning to write this for nearly four years; it was just on four years ago that I drove along the Eyre Highway, which passes through eastern Western Australia close to the southern coast of the continent. I paid particular attention to the time kept there. There can be no dispute that UTC+08:45 was considered "the time" from the border village just inside the border with South Australia to as far west as just east of Caiguna. There can also be no dispute that Eucla is the largest population centre in this zone, having a population of "40 or 50" (from memory what the proprietor of the roadhouse said when I asked him); it even has named side streets off the highway, and a very modern meteorological observatory and office. The other settlements, Cocklebiddy, Madura, Mundrabilla, and the border village, have much smaller permanent populations (around a dozen at most). So if a new zone were to be added to the tz database it should be called "Australia/Eucla". To back up my assertions I was going to refer to photographs I took of the three clocks at the border crossing (showing, Perth, local, and Adelaide time, respectively) and of the clearly "official" sign (galvanised-steel posts and frame, well-cut rectangular sheet-metal plate with rounded corners, stencilled lettering, and reflective paint) proclaiming "Central Western Time" that is seen just after leaving Caiguna heading east, but I have not published them yet and I do not have the time to check them now. (I think the sign also says, in smaller lettering, "Advance Clocks 45 Minutes".) This zone is also shown on the excellent map at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Timezones_optimized.png (obviously based on the CIA time-zone map). "Central Western Time" is mentioned in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone, where an estimated population for this region of 200 (according with what I would have guessed) is also given. (Unfortunately the phrase "Western Central Standard Time" is used in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Australia to refer to the same thing.) Now that Western Australia is observing daylight saving, the question arose whether this part of the state would follow suit. I just called the border village [+61 (0)8 9039-3474; from online white pages] and confirmed that indeed they have, meaning that they are now observing UTC+09:45. There is one more curiosity to report about this isolated part of the world. The old Eyre telegraph station, just behind the coastal sand dunes southeast of Cocklebiddy, is now run as a bird observatory as well as a weather station and guest house. Its permanent population is 2 (a caretaker couple). I stayed there for a night on my way through and noticed that they kept a time different both from Perth and "the highway" (phrase used by caretaker; see below); they have a clock in their kitchen with a Dymo label on it stating "Eyre Std. Time" (I took a picture). It was UT+09:00, meaning a whole hour ahead of Perth, making their checking and reporting of weather data (which the Perth weather bureau expects to be done according to Perth time) simpler. I have just called them [+61 (0)8 9039-3450, also from online white pages], and they too have advanced their clocks with the rest of the state, putting them on UTC+10:00 and maintaining their one-hour difference from Perth. As far as I'm concerned this warrants another time zone, Australia/Eyre, despite the tiny permanent population! I seem to remember that what matters to this list is what time people actually keep, not statutory status. I hope the hour or two I've spent preparing and writing this turns out to be of some value.

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Oddness in file interpretation - I assume I am missing something...
by Philip Warner Dec. 6, 2006

Dec. 6, 2006

The current files have the following zone & rules: Freetown Zone Africa/Freetown -0:53:00 - LMT 1882 -0:53:00 - FMT 1913 Jun # Freetown Mean Time -1:00 SL %s 1957 0:00 SL %s Rule SL 1935 1942 - Oct 1 0:00 0 WAT Rule SL 1957 1962 - Jun 1 0:00 1:00 SLST Rule SL 1957 1962 - Sep 1 0:00 0 GMT And zic produces, among others, the following transition: Africa/Freetown Sun Jun 1 00:52:59 1913 UTC = Sat May 31 23:59:59 1913 FMT isdst=0 Africa/Freetown Sun Jun 1 00:53:00 1913 UTC = Sat May 31 23:53:00 1913 WAT isdst=0 The problem/question I have is: based on the above rules, it is not at all clear to me that Sat May 31 23:53:00 1913 should be designated 'WAT'; in fact I would have thought there would be a case for it being 'FMT' since none if the 'SL' rules apply in 1913. This is further complicated by the following rules & zones: Zone Africa/Algiers 0:12:12 - LMT 1891 Mar 15 0:01 0:09:21 - PMT 1911 Mar 11 # Paris Mean Time 0:00 Algeria WE%sT 1940 Feb 25 2:00 1:00 Algeria CE%sT 1946 Oct 7 Rule Algeria 1916 only - Jun 14 23:00s 1:00 S Rule Algeria 1916 1919 - Oct Sun>=1 23:00s 0 - which for the transition in 1911 produces 'WET'; apparently *not* using the 'S' from the first rule. And this set: Zone Africa/Accra -0:00:52 - LMT 1918 0:00 Ghana %s Rule Ghana 1936 1942 - Sep 1 0:00 0:20 GHST Rule Ghana 1936 1942 - Dec 31 0:00 0 GMT which produces 'GMT' for the transition in 1918. Can someone confirm that zic is doing the right thing (which I kind of assume it is by definition), and perhaps give me a rule to follow when performing the %s substitutions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Africa/Asmera / Africa/Asmara
by Klaus Klein Dec. 4, 2006

Dec. 4, 2006

Feedback from one of our users, forwarded with permission. I've checked with the usual suspects (i.e., diplomatic services' web sites), which confirm the Asmara spelling. - Klaus ----- Forwarded message from Zafer Aydogan <zafer(a)aydogan.de> ----- the city name of Asmera has changed to Asmara. Shall we update the name in the zoneinfo file ? /usr/share/zoneinfo/Africa/ Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmera Zafer. ----- End forwarded message -----

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