June 2021 - tz - lists.iana.org

Breach of tzdb charter: Merging timezones is not within the charter
by Stephen Colebourne June 4, 2021

June 4, 2021

This is a formal request to revert the recent patch to merge country timezones. I, and others, consider the patch to be utterly unacceptable. The patch causes meaningful harm to the status of tzdb, and will cause downstream projects significant pain to effectively revert the changes - amounting to an effective fork of the project. Specifically, the patch merges the timezone history of completely separate countries, effectively wiping places like Norway and Sweden off the map to replace them by Germany. (Many other countries are also proposed to be wiped off the map). The reversion MUST occur as soon as possible, and MUST be before the next tzdb release. The tzdb coordinator is expected to operate by this charter: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6557 """ The TZ Coordinator is empowered to decide, as the designated expert, appropriate changes, but SHOULD take into account views expressed on the mailing list. ... The criteria for updates to the database include the following: 1. New TZ names (e.g., locations) are only to be created when the scope of the region a name was envisioned to cover is no longer accurate. 2. In order to correct historical inaccuracies, a new TZ name MAY be added when it is necessary to indicate what was the consensus view at a given time and location. Such TZ names are usually not added when the inaccuracy was prior to 1970. 3. Changes to existing entries SHALL reflect the consensus on the ground in the region covered by that entry. To be clear, the TZ Coordinator SHALL NOT set time zone policy for a region but use judgment and whatever available sources exist to assess what the average person on street would think the time actually is, or in case of historical corrections, was. """ I contend that to date, the TZ coordinator has not actively shown any serious willingness to accept that the proposed changes are unacceptable to a significant segment of tzdb users. As such, the coordinator has not taken into account the views of the mailing list. I also contend that the "cleanup" being proposed is not within the charter of the project. Point 1 refers to new zones, thus is not applicable. Point 2 refers to correcting historical inaccuracies, yet it is clear that the proposed change *adds* historical inaccuracies. Point 3 refers to changes, but only in terms that reflect what people in the relevant location would have considered the time zone to have been, yet clearly the proposed change does not do that. No part of the charter permits the coordinator to willfully harm the database, nor to merge timezone regions, nor to increase the number of historical inaccuracies. Justifications for the proposed change based on "consistency" or "politics" are not rooted in the charter of tzdb and should be considered null and void. Given the above, I contend that the actions of the tzdb coordinator are in breach of the charter of the project, I therefore request that the changes are reverted immediately. Stephen Colebourne

13 17

New JavaScript/Node.js timezone compiler
by Kerry Shetline June 4, 2021

June 4, 2021

https://github.com/kshetline/tubular_time_tzdb I spoke about this new tz compiler a while back, when I released my @tubular/time date-time library, but the compiler was only at the level of a tool for personal use, without decent documentation or all of the features I’d want for a general-purpose utility. At first this compiler only produced data for use with @tubular/time, but now it can output zoneinfo/zic binaries too. One nice feature is that this tool, by default, reaches right out to https://www.iana.org/time-zones/ for data, with no need to download a release before using the compiler. There’s a JavaScript/TypeScript API and a CLI command. I’ll show the CLI command help, just so people can get an idea of the options available. Anyone can go to https://github.com/kshetline/tubular_time_tzdb for more info. npm install -g @tubular/time-tzdb Usage: tzc [options] [output_file_name_or_directory] Downloads and compiles IANA timezone data, converting to text, zoneinfo binary files, or @tubular/time-compatible data. Options: -v, --version output the version number -5, --systemv Include the SystemV timezones from the systemv file by uncommenting the commented-out zone descriptions. -b, --binary Output binary files to a directory, one file per timezone -B, --bloat Equivalent to the zic "--bloat fat" option. -f Filter out Etc/GMTxxx and other timezones that are either redundant or covered by options for creating fixed-offset timezones. -i Include leap seconds in binary files. -j, --javascript Output JavaScript instead of JSON. --large Apply presets for "large" timezone definitions. --large-alt Apply presets for "large-alt" timezone definitions. --list List available tz database versions. -m Round all UTC offsets to whole minutes. -n, --no-backward Skip the additional aliases in the backward file. -o Overwrite existing file/directory. -q Display no progress messages, fewer warning messages. -R, --rearguard Rearguard mode (skip vanguard features like negative DST). -r Remove 'calendar rollbacks' from time zone transitions -- that is modify time zone data to prevent situations where the calendar date goes backwards as well as the hour and/or minute of the day. -p, --packrat Add additional timezones from the backzone file. -s <zone-id> ID/name for a single timezone/region to be rendered. --small Apply presets for "small" timezone definitions. -t, --typescript Output TypeScript instead of JSON. --text Output (somewhat) human-readable text -u, --url <url> URL or version number, such as '2018c', to parse and compile. Default: https://www.iana.org/time-zones/repository/tzdata-latest.tar.gz -V, --vanguard Vanguard mode (use vanguard features like negative DST). -y <year-span> <min_year,max_year> Year range for explicit time zone transitions. Default: 1850,2050 -z <zone-info-dir> Validate this tool's output against output from the standard zic tool stored in the given directory. (Validation is done before applying the -r option.) -h, --help display help for command -, Use dash by itself to output to stdout.

2 1

Demetrios Matsakis of USNO on NPR
by Steve Allen June 2, 2021

June 2, 2021

Today NPR has a 2 minute musical interview about daylight time with Demetrios Matsakis of USNO https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/1002368937/an-expert-has-the-answers-to-dayl… -- Steve Allen <sla(a)ucolick.org> WGS-84 (GPS) UCO/Lick Observatory--ISB 260 Natural Sciences II, Room 165 Lat +36.99855 1156 High Street Voice: +1 831 459 3046 Lng -122.06015 Santa Cruz, CA 95064 https://www.ucolick.org/~sla/ Hgt +250 m

2 1

Re: [tz] [PROPOSED] Merge timezones that are alike since 1970
by Stephen Trainor June 2, 2021

June 2, 2021

> To me, the two tables provide very different needs to two very different sets of users. Let the O/S teams use table 1, let the history-related app developers use a constantly improving backtable. As a history-related app developer (astronomy), I can only speak authoritatively for my own code, but I suspect the same applies to the vast majority of similar apps out there: I’ve never consumed tzdb data directly, but rely instead on OS implementations for historical data in native applications (and NPM libraries for web applications). I’m doubtful this distinction between sets of users is actually valid in practical terms, even though consumption of historical data is likely a drop in the overall ocean. Even if developers could consume backzone information directly, will they? Reimplementing tz-related logic in order to do so would be a big task from my perspective. Stephen Sent from my iPhone

1 0

research on TZ list
by BASTIAN Michelle June 1, 2021

June 1, 2021

Hi all, I'm a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, currently working on a book about redesigning clocks. My background is in philosophy, though quite interdisciplinary. I'm interested in the disparity between those responsible for the technical aspects of time keeping, who generally understand clock time to be malleable and adjustable, and wider perceptions in the arts and humanities that clocks are objective. The TZ list is a great case study to show this malleability, so I'm hoping to draw on the archives to develop a chapter for the book, where I'll also be talking about leap smearing. I've been in touch with the owners and the list is regarded as being in the public domain and transparent ie ICANN and its subsidiaries are allowed to "Maintain archival records of a User's participation for historical and research purposes, subject to retention limits imposed by applicable laws" and "To publish a User's comments or feedback along with a User's name for the benefit of others and otherwise to comply with our accountability and transparency principles". However, in terms of transparency from my side I wanted to let you all know about this project and that once the section is drafted, I will contact those that I reference to ensure that you are okay for quotes to be used in the way I have. No need to respond to me if you are okay with it, but I did want to offer the opportunity to correct me, to remove the quote, or to be anonymised as preferred. I could then share the paper with the group if that was of interest. I'm very happy to answer any questions, do contact me directly if you'd like to, and thanks for all the great work you are doing. Finally, if anyone is interested in the project more widely, I wrote a short paper that was published as part of the Science of Time conference at Harvard in 2016 which can be accessed here https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-59909-0_41 Best wishes, Michelle. --- Dr Michelle Bastian Senior Lecturer in Environmental Humanities ESALA, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh Level 1, Room 303B, The Maltings | Minto House, 20-22 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JZ | 0131 651 5779 Work hours: I normally work 7am-3pm M-F. Latest publications: Whale falls, suspended ground, and extinctions never known<https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article/12/2/454/16699…> (Environmental Humanities, 2020) Open access Retelling Time in Grassroots Sustainable Economy Movements<https://doi-org.ezproxy.is.ed.ac.uk/10.1080/2373566X.2019.1583589> (Geohumanities, 2019) Open access Time & Society<https://journals.sagepub.com/home/tas> | Edinburgh Environmental Humanities Network<http://www.environmentalhumanities.ed.ac.uk/> | Temporal Belongings<http://www.temporalbelongings.org/> | Extinction Studies<http://extinctionstudies.org/> | ESALA Declares<http://extinctionstudies.org/> | The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th' ann an Oilthigh Dh?n ?ideann, cl?raichte an Alba, ?ireamh cl?raidh SC005336.

1 0