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FW: Updated Australian time zone names/strings
by Olson, Arthur David (NCI) April 17, 2001

April 17, 2001

David Begley is not on the time zone mailing list; direct replies appropriately. --ado -----Original Message----- From: David J N Begley [mailto:d.begley@uws.edu.au] Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 3:40 AM To: Time Zone Database Subject: Updated Australian time zone names/strings To whom it may concern... Summary: I'd like to request the "EST/EST" time zone strings for Australian eastern standard and summer/daylight-savings time be changed to "AEST/AEDT", given that "EST/EST": - clashes with an existing U.S. time zone; - gives no indication of the difference between standard/d'light savings; - is unnecessarily confusing; - is incorrectly quoted from the time zone database as authoritative; and, - does not necessarily gel with "common practice" in Australia. Whilst it is arguable exactly what string/abbreviation should be used in the absence of formal standards, I present "common usage" examples below and argue that at the very least, the abbreviations for standard and daylight savings time should be *different*. Detail: Checking the tzdata2001a archive (and various UNIX systems), Australian eastern time zones (particularly "Australia/Sydney") use the time zone string "EST" for both standard and summer/daylight-savings time. Notionally, this is just a visual issue that doesn't really bring the IT industry to its knees if it's wrong since most decent systems work directly on the UTC offset instead. However, some systems use the time zone database as an "expert reference" from which to extrapolate incorrect information - it is this that triggered my submission to you. For example, the time zone database includes the following comment: # From John Mackin (1991-03-06): # We in Australia have _never_ referred to DST as `daylight' time. # It is called `summer' time. Now by a happy coincidence, `summer' # and `standard' happen to start with the same letter; hence, the # abbreviation does _not_ change... I can't speak for Mr Mackin's direct experience, but I can most certainly contest the assertion that, "We in Australia have _never_ referred to DST as `daylight' time" - certainly everyone I know (and myself, of course) have always used the term "daylight savings" rather than "summer time". I've used UNIX systems for years so to a certain degree I'm used to this "error" in the time zone database; however, now that people are using the database as an authoritative resource (despite the comments in the file to the contrary), I thought it only fair to request a correction (in the hope that those relying on the database will in turn correct their information). Mr Mackin continues: # The legislation does not actually define abbreviations, at least # in this State, but the abbreviation is just commonly taken to be the # initials of the phrase, and the legislation here uniformly uses # the phrase `summer time' and does not use the phrase `daylight # time'. Unfortunately Mr Mackin does not indicate to what State he refers, but in *this* State (New South Wales - NSW), the relevant legislation clearly uses both terms (summer time and daylight savings) interchangeably; for reference, see the Standard Time Act 1987 (NSW), which *predates* Mr Mackin's comment: "New South Wales Consolidated Acts - STANDARD TIME ACT 1987" http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/sta1987137/ Whilst the Act clearly defines "standard time" and "summer time", it also makes specific mention of "daylight saving": - the long title of the legislation is: "An Act relating to standard time and daylight saving in New South Wales." - part 3 of the Act, talking about summer time, is in fact entitled: "PART 3 - DAYLIGHT SAVING" For further evidence of the use of the term "daylight saving", see: "Time in New South Wales" (NSW Attorney General's Department) http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/crd.nsf/pages/time1 "Daylight Saving in New South Wales" (NSW Department of Public Works and Services) http://dir.gis.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/genobject/document/other/daylightsaving/ti gGmZITWr0 "When does daylight savings start in Australia?" (National Standards Commission) http://www.nsc.gov.au/PAGES/Info/info_faq.html#Daylight Savings "Daylight Saving" (National Standards Commission) http://www.nsc.gov.au/PDF_WORD/Info/IL27.pdf Clearly, the assertion that Australia always uses the term "summer time" instead of "daylight time" or "daylight savings" (and therefore, the time zone abbreviations must be the same) is *incorrect*. The confusion arises because in Australia it is the States (not the Federal/national government) that legislate time changes during the summer months; whilst technically it is a federal responsibility under the constitution (as a measure related to commerce), the parliament has never really been able to pass legislation on the matter due to the fear that the States would see this as removing some of their legislative powers (see Hansard, Commonwealth House of Representatives, 1991). Subsequently, there is no standard name for time zones or summer clock shifts just "common use" (for various definitions of "common") that sometimes vary from State to State. In the media you will experience all manner of phrases used such as "Eastern Time", "Summer Time", "Sydney Time" and numerous other variants; for example, C&W Optus (a large telco) uses abbreviations such as "AEDST" when referring to Australian eastern daylight savings time. I suspect, apart from Mr Mackin's comments above, that the local use of the phrase "Eastern Standard Time" (which is clearly local in context) is what has led to the use of the ambiguous "EST" in the time zone database. More recently, however, the media is recognising the global context (rather than local) and starting to prefix time zone references with "Australian" (more on this below). As noted above, this confusing lack of standards, local phrases and personal experiences have found their way into the time zone database, into nearly every UNIX system (well...) and has now created even more confusion, especially as some people start to quote the time zone database as authoritative. For example: "Australian time zones and their naming variants account for fully one quarter of all time zones in the Postgres time zone lookup table." http://www.postgresql.org/users-lounge/docs/7.0/user/datetime-appendix.htm (Caused by wierd variants - many of which I must admit to never having seen in use - to the ambiguous "EST". Also note that they recognise "AEST".) More of a concern, is this: "4.5. The timezone string for Sydney/Australia is wrong since even when daylight saving time is in effect the timezone string is EST. "{UD} The problem for some timezones is that the local authorities decided to use the term 'summer time' instead of 'daylight saving time'. In this case the abbreviation character `S' is the same as the standard one. So, for Sydney we have Eastern Standard Time = EST Eastern Summer Time = EST Great! To get this bug fixed convince the authorities to change the laws and regulations of the country this effects. glibc behaves correctly." http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/FAQ.html This is clearly based on Mr Mackin's comment in the time zone database, and as I have demonstrated is wrong (in terms of the legislation and government use). Unfortunately, despite the evidence, the glibc authors simply point to the time zone database as authoritative and allow this error to continue. glibc is *not* behaving correctly, nor is the time zone database (but to correct glibc I need to get the time zone database updated). So.. by this time I hope I've demonstrated that it *is* legitimate (and correct) to use a different abbreviation for daylight savings/summer time; all that remains is to demonstrate why I've chosen "AEST" and "AEDT" to replace "EST" for standard and daylight savings time respectively. Well, ignoring my own use of these abbreviations, some "common use" includes: - Australian Broadcasting Corporation <http://www.abc.net.au/news/> - Browse the ABC News site and see the instances of "AEST" and "AEDT" (even "ACST" and "AWST" for central and western standard time) in reference to eastern standard or eastern summer time depending on whether that particular State observes daylight savings or not. - In particular, see the "Posted" timestamps at: <http://www.abc.net.au/news/state/nsw/default.htm> - The home page currently has a timestamp (towards page top-right) of: "This Bulletin: Thu, Mar 22 2001 4:15 PM AEDT". - Even at the bottom of the first news page is the explanation of "AEDT" (which may disappear this weekend when DST ends in NSW): "AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Time which is 11 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time)" - These pages also appear in a search of the Commonwealth Government's <http://www.fed.gov.au/> Web site. - Australian Department of Defence <http://www.defence.gov.au/> - See various media releases, for example, referring to times in either "AEST" or "AEDT", including: <http://www.defence.gov.au/media/1997/05797.html> <http://www.defence.gov.au/media/1997/01197.html> - National Library of Australia <http://www.nla.gov.au/> - Search their Web site for "AEST", references to contacting them give times in this time zone: <http://www.nla.gov.au/dss/libraries_os.html#express> - Australian Taxation Office (ATO) - http://www.ato.gov.au/content.asp?doc=/content/tax_reform/nat3402.htm - Australian Football League (AFL) - Fixture times: <http://www.afl.com.au/matches/season_111.htm> - Australian Cricket Board (ACB) - Live game coverage: <http://www-aus.cricket.org/link_to_database/NATIONAL/AUS/MATCHES/> - "The Australian" (and other Murdoch/News-owned newspapers) - Example: <http://australianit.news.com.au/common/storyPage/0,3811,902553%255E2184,00. html> - You have to "view source" to see the "Updated...AEST" - Visible at the very bottom, "All times AEDT" - Other (small sample) - NineMSN's News service <http://www.news.ninemsn.com.au/> (notice current time given in AEDT) - "...each fortnightly Sunday morning at 8am AEST/AEDT" http://news.ninemsn.com.au/smallbusiness/help/help9.asp - AAP IS/News, as viewed through <http://au.dailynews.yahoo.com/> (pick AAP-sourced articles and notice times in "AEDT" and "AEST") The examples go on and on. As you can see, it is not just government sites using the time zones "AEST" and "AEDT" in this manner. An argument could probably be mounted to have all the Australian time zones altered accordingly (probably along the lines used by the ABC and The Australian), but it's mainly the Australia/Sydney time zone that interests me at present. I hope this is sufficient information/examples for consideration, but would be happy to provide further info/examples if necessary. Thanks for your consideration (and sorry for this being so long); hope to hear your comments soon. Cheers.. dave

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Argentina's (no) daylight savings time
by Mariano Absatz April 16, 2001

April 16, 2001

Hi, Im new to the list so forgive me if this has already been discused. I administer a bunch of Solaris and Linux (RedHat 6.x/7.x) machines and a month or so ago, all of the Linuxes went one hour early... It was quite clear that it was related to a timezone problem... the problem was I never quite understood the format of the zoneinfo files... anyway, I got the latest files from ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/ to try to solve the problem, but it didn't work... I just saw that there is another release (2001b), but the bug is still there... I edited the southamerica file by hand not exactly knowing what I'm doing, but I kinda fixed it. The point is that as far as I remember, in the last 3 or 4 years, DST was not used (there were a few decrees and I think there was a failed national survey, but eventually, DST was not applied). Anyway, the "least damage" editing I could think of (not fully understanding the zoneinfo file logic) was deleting all the zone data regarding the year 2000 rule for all Argentine cities in the file (Buenos_Aires, Rosario, Cordoba, Jujuy, Catamarca and Mendoza). It worked, though I ain't quite sure if it will go wrong in October... Probably, the rule itself should be erased, though I didn't do it... Is there a somehow concise explanation of the format of the zoneinfo files, other than the comments in the file itself?... in fact, I only checked the southamerica file, maybe there is another one with a better explanation... I actually don't have the laws, decrees and/or Supreme Court roulings regarding DST to justify what I am doing, but I DO know what time is it now :-) (and the fact that it's 3 hours west from GMT, and that I didn't change to DST for more than a couple of years). If I get to understand the format and relationship betwenn Rules and Zones I can correct the Rules/Zones for the couple of last years... I actually don't have previous data, and given the conflicts DST generated the last time it was used (I can't even remember when that was) I don't think there IS a knowledgable source for the past, other than what was put in there by other people in the past. TIA. If you are interested this is the diff output: ================================================================= # diff southamerica.wrong southamerica.better 137d136 < -4:00 Arg AR%sT 2000 Mar 3 0:00 148d146 < -4:00 Arg AR%sT 2000 Mar 3 0:00 159d156 < -4:00 Arg AR%sT 2000 Mar 3 0:00 172d168 < -4:00 Arg AR%sT 2000 Mar 3 0:00 184d179 < -4:00 Arg AR%sT 2000 Mar 3 0:00 197d191 < -4:00 Arg AR%sT 2000 Mar 3 0:00 ================================================================= -- Mariano Absatz baby(a)baby.com.ar

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List of time zones compliant both for Linux, Solaris 5.8, OSF1 Tru64, HP-UX
by francois reygagne April 16, 2001

April 16, 2001

I need if possible the same timezone lists for the platforms listed bellow Linux, Solaris 5.8, OSF1 Tru64, HP-UX to make portable the handling of timezones. I'm afraid when i took a look to the differents unix os flavors the timezone strings are not the same according to the targetted platforms. I discovered the timezones defined by Solaris is only the single as the OLSON data. I'm wondering if it could be possible to use the OLSON data and code instead the specific target OS stuff. This could be very convenient and resolve my problem of porting. If the answer is Yes, How could we use OLSON data and code for each paltforms. Is there an installation guide to override the default platform timezone stuff. If the response is No, how to make an association code between the different timezones list. Please enclosed here after the timezone lists for each platform: ============================================================ HP-UX # @(#) $Revision: 80.4.1.6 $ # Mitteleuropaeische Zeit, Mitteleuropaeische Sommerzeit MEZ-1MESZ 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 MESZ-2 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 MEZ-1 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 MEZ-1 # Middle European Time, Middle European Time Daylight Savings Time MET-1METDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 METDST-2 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 MET-1 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 MET-1 # Greenwich Mean Time, British Summer Time GMT0BST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-1984 0 BST-1 0 3 23-29 3 1985-1990 0 BST-1 0 3 25-31 3 1991-1995 0 BST-1 0 2 25-31 3 1996-2038 0 BST-1 0 1 25-31 10 1983-1985 0 GMT0 0 1 23-29 10 1986-1994 0 GMT0 0 1 18-24 10 1995 0 GMT0 0 1 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 GMT0 # Pacific Standard Time, Pacific Daylight Time PST8PDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 PDT7 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 PDT7 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 PDT7 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 PDT7 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 PDT7 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 PST8 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 PST8 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 PST8 # Eastern Standard Time, Eastern Daylight Time EST5EDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 EDT4 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 EDT4 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 EDT4 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 EDT4 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 EDT4 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 EST5 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 EST5 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 EST5 # Central Standard Time, Central Daylight Time CST6CDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 CDT5 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 CDT5 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 CDT5 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 CDT5 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 CDT5 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 CST6 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 CST6 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 CST6 # Mountain Standard Time, Mountain Daylight Time MST7MDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 MDT6 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 MDT6 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 MDT6 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 MDT6 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 MDT6 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 MST7 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 MST7 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 MST7 # Atlantic Standard Time, Atlantic Daylight Time AST4ADT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 ADT3 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 ADT3 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 ADT3 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 ADT3 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 ADT3 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 AST4 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 AST4 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 AST4 # Newfoundland Standard Time, Newfoundland Daylight Time NST3:30NDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 NDT2:30 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 NDT2:30 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 NDT2:30 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 NDT2:30 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 NDT2:30 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 NST3:30 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 NST3:30 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 NST3:30 # Eastern Standard Time, Central Daylight Time (US: Indiana) EST5CDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 CDT5 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 CDT5 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 CDT5 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 CDT5 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 CDT5 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 EST5 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 EST5 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 EST5 # Aleutian Standard Time, Aleutian Daylight Time AST10ADT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 ADT9 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 ADT9 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 ADT9 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 ADT9 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 ADT9 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 AST10 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 AST10 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 AST10 # Yukon Standard Time, Yukon Daylight Time YST9YDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 YDT8 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 YDT8 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 YDT8 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 YDT8 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 YDT8 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 YST9 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 YST9 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 YST9 # Western European Time, Western European Time Daylight Savings Time WET0WETDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-1984 0 WETDST-1 0 3 23-29 3 1985-1995 0 WETDST-1 0 2 25-31 3 1996-2038 0 WETDST-1 0 1 25-31 10 1983-1985 0 WET0 0 1 23-29 10 1986-1995 0 WET0 0 1 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WET0 # Portuguese Winter Time, Portuguese Summer Time PWT0PST 0 2 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 PST-1 0 1 25-31 10 1983-2038 0 PWT0 # South Africa Standard Time SAST-2 0 1 1-7 3 1985-2038 0 SAST-2 # Australian Central Standard Time, Australian Central Daylight Time # (South Australia) # # This entry has been changed to allow for a later ending of # daylight savings time from 1995 onwards in South Australia. # It now ends in the last week of March. # CST-9:30CDT 0 3 25-31 10 1971-2038 0 CDT-10:30 0 1 27 2 1972 0-6 CST-9:30 0 1 1-7 3 1973-1994 0 CST-9:30 0 2 25-31 3 1995-2038 0 CST-9:30 # Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Eastern Daylight Time # # This entry has been changed to allow for a later ending of # daylight savings time from 1996 onwards. # It now ends in the last week of March. # EST-10EDT 0 3 25-31 10 1971-2038 0 EDT-11 0 1 27 2 1972 0-6 EST-10 0 1 1-7 3 1973-1985 0 EST-10 0 1 15-21 3 1986 0 EST-10 0 1 1-7 3 1987-1995 0 EST-10 0 2 25-31 3 1996-2038 0 EST-10 # New Zealand Standard Time, New Zealand Daylight Time # NZST-12NZDT 0 3 25-31 10 1985-1988 0 NZDT-13 0 3 8 10 1989 0-6 NZDT-13 0 3 1-7 10 1990-2038 0 NZDT-13 0 1 1-7 3 1985-1989 0 NZST-12 0 1 15-21 3 1990-2038 0 NZST-12 # Pacific Standard Time, Pacific Daylight Time (for Malaysia or Singapore) # PST-8PDT 0 1 1-7 4 1996-2038 0 PDT-9 0 1 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 PST-8 # Finland Standard Time, Finland Daylight Time # EET-2EETDST 0 3 25-31 3 1981-2038 0 EETDST-3 0 4 24-30 9 1981-2038 0 EET-2 # The timezones named above should be used in preference to those below except # for dates prior to 1987 for Tasmania. US and Canada use the same rules so # the simpler timezone strings above will work for both countries. # Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Tasmania) # (same as EST-10EDT for 1987 - 2038) # # This entry has been changed to allow for an earlier starting # and later ending of daylight savings time from 1995 onwards # in Tasmania. It starts in the first week of October and # ends in the last week of March. EST-10EDT#Tasmania 0 3 25-31 10 1971-1994 0 EDT#Tasmania-11 0 3 1-7 10 1995-2038 0 EDT#Tasmania-11 0 1 27 2 1972 0-6 EST-10 0 1 1-7 3 1973-1994 0 EST-10 0 1 25-31 3 1995-2038 0 EST-10 # Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Eastern Daylight Time # # This entry has been changed to allow for a later ending of # daylight savings time from 1996 onwards. # It now ends in the last week of March. # (New South Wales) EST-10EDT#NSW 0 3 25-31 10 1971-2038 0 EDT#NSW-11 0 1 27 2 1972 0-6 EST-10 0 1 1-7 3 1973-1985 0 EST-10 0 1 15-21 3 1986 0 EST-10 0 2 1-7 3 1987-1995 0 EST-10 0 2 25-31 3 1996-2038 0 EST-10 # Australian Eastern Standard Time, Australian Eastern Daylight Time # # This entry has been changed to allow for a later ending of # daylight savings time from 1995 onwards. # It now ends in the last week of March. # (Victoria) EST-10EDT#VIC 0 3 25-31 10 1971-2038 0 EDT#VIC-11 0 1 27 2 1972 0-6 EST-10 0 1 1-7 3 1973-1985 0 EST-10 0 1 15-21 3 1986 0 EST-10 0 1 1-7 3 1987-1994 0 EST-10 0 2 25-31 3 1995-2038 0 EST-10 # Pacific Standard Time, Pacific Daylight Time (Canada) PST8PDT#Canada 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 PDT#Canada7 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 PDT#Canada7 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 PDT#Canada7 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 PDT#Canada7 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 PDT#Canada7 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 PST8 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 PST8 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 PST8 # Mountain Standard Time, Mountain Daylight Time (Canada) MST7MDT#Canada 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 MDT#Canada6 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 MDT#Canada6 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 MDT#Canada6 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 MDT#Canada6 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 MDT#Canada6 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 MST7 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 MST7 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 MST7 # Central Standard Time, Central Daylight Time (Canada) CST6CDT#Canada 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 CDT#Canada5 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 CDT#Canada5 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 CDT#Canada5 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 CDT#Canada5 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 CDT#Canada5 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 CST6 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 CST6 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 CST6 # Eastern Standard Time, Eastern Daylight Time (Canada) EST5EDT#Canada 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 EDT#Canada4 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 EDT#Canada4 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 EDT#Canada4 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 EDT#Canada4 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 EDT#Canada4 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 EST5 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 EST5 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 EST5 # Eastern Standard Time (US: Most of Indiana) # # This entry is added to correct the Indiana timezone because # Indiana does not observe Daylight Savings Time. The original # entry EST5CDT is kept to ensure backward compatibility. EST5EST 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 EST5 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 EST5 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 EST5 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 EST5 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 EST5 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 EST5 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 EST5 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 EST5 # Eastern Standard Time, Central Daylight Time (US: Indiana) # # This entry is for backward compatibility only, the correct entry # is the EST5CDT entry above. This entry is incorrect because the # "6" in EST6CDT below should be a "5". Other than the "6" being # changed to "5", this entry and EST5CDT are the same and the # end result of using either is identical. # EST6CDT 0 3 24-30 4 1970-1973 0 CDT5 0 3 6 1 1974 0-6 CDT5 0 3 22-28 2 1975 0 CDT5 0 3 24-30 4 1976-1986 0 CDT5 0 3 1-7 4 1987-2038 0 CDT5 0 1 25-31 10 1970-1973 0 EST5 0 1 24-30 11 1974 0 EST5 0 1 25-31 10 1975-2038 0 EST5 # Western Russia (Moscow) Time, Western Russia (Moscow) Daylight Savings # Time WST-3WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-4 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-3 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-3 # Belorussia (minsk) Time, Belorussia (minsk) Daylight Savings Time WST-2WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-3 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-2 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-2 # European Russia (samara) Time, European Russia (samara) Daylight Savings #Time WST-4WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-5 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-4 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-4 # Urals (Ekaterinburg) Time, Urals (Ekaterinburg) Daylight Savings Time WST-5WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-6 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-5 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-5 # Western Siberia (Omsk), Western Siberia (Omsk) Daylight Savings Time WST-6WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-7 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-6 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-6 # Middle Siberia (Krasnoyarsk) Time, Middle Siberia (Krasnoyarsk) # Daylight Savings Time WST-7WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-8 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-7 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-7 # Baikal lake (Irkutsk) Time, Baikal lake (Irkutsk) Daylight Savings Time WST-8WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-9 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-8 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-8 # Eastern Siberia (Yakutsk) Time, Eastern Siberia (Yakutsk) Daylight # Savings Time WST-9WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-10 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-9 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-9 # Far East (Khabarovsk) Time, Far East (Khabarovsk) Daylight Savings # Time WST-10WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-11 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-10 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-10 # Russia Pacific (magadan) Time, Russia Pacific (magadan) Daylight # Savings Time WST-11WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-12 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-11 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-11 # Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy) Time, Kamchatka(Petropavlovsk # -Kamchatskiy) Daylight Savings Time WST-12WSTDST 0 3 25-31 3 1983-2038 0 WSTDST-13 0 2 24-30 9 1983-1995 0 WST-12 0 2 25-31 10 1996-2038 0 WST-12 __________________________________________________________________________ Solaris 5.8 2 ./Australia/Broken_Hill 2 ./Australia/LHI 2 ./Australia/NSW 2 ./Australia/North 2 ./Australia/Queensland 2 ./Australia/South 2 ./Australia/Tasmania 2 ./Australia/Victoria 2 ./Australia/West 20 ./Australia 2 ./Brazil/Acre 2 ./Brazil/DeNoronha 2 ./Brazil/East 2 ./Brazil/West 10 ./Brazil 4 ./Canada/Atlantic 2 ./Canada/Central 2 ./Canada/East-Saskatchewan 4 ./Canada/Eastern 2 ./Canada/Mountain 4 ./Canada/Newfoundland 2 ./Canada/Pacific 2 ./Canada/Yukon 24 ./Canada 2 ./Chile/Continental 2 ./Chile/EasterIsland 6 ./Chile 2 ./Etc/GMT 2 ./Etc/GMT+1 2 ./Etc/GMT+10 2 ./Etc/GMT+11 2 ./Etc/GMT+12 2 ./Etc/GMT+2 2 ./Etc/GMT+3 2 ./Etc/GMT+4 2 ./Etc/GMT+5 2 ./Etc/GMT+6 2 ./Etc/GMT+7 2 ./Etc/GMT+8 2 ./Etc/GMT+9 2 ./Etc/GMT-1 2 ./Etc/GMT-10 2 ./Etc/GMT-11 2 ./Etc/GMT-12 2 ./Etc/GMT-13 2 ./Etc/GMT-2 2 ./Etc/GMT-3 2 ./Etc/GMT-4 2 ./Etc/GMT-5 2 ./Etc/GMT-6 2 ./Etc/GMT-7 2 ./Etc/GMT-8 2 ./Etc/GMT-9 54 ./Etc 2 ./Mexico/BajaNorte 2 ./Mexico/BajaSur 2 ./Mexico/General 8 ./Mexico 8 ./Mideast/Riyadh87 8 ./Mideast/Riyadh88 8 ./Mideast/Riyadh89 26 ./Mideast 2 ./US/Alaska 2 ./US/Aleutian 2 ./US/Michigan 2 ./US/Samoa 2 ./US/Arizona 4 ./US/Central 2 ./US/East-Indiana 4 ./US/Eastern 2 ./US/Hawaii 2 ./US/Mountain 2 ./US/Pacific 28 ./US 6 ./src/README 40 ./src/africa 18 ./src/antarctica 86 ./src/asia 70 ./src/australasia 8 ./src/backward 6 ./src/etcetera 224 ./src/europe 2 ./src/factory 102 ./src/northamerica 4 ./src/pacificnew 38 ./src/solar87 38 ./src/solar88 40 ./src/solar89 54 ./src/southamerica 4 ./src/systemv 742 ./src 2 ./CET 2 ./Cuba 2 ./EET 2 ./Egypt 4 ./Eire 2 ./Factory 4 ./GB 2 ./Hongkong 2 ./Iceland 2 ./Iran 2 ./Israel 2 ./Jamaica 2 ./Japan 2 ./Kwajalein 2 ./Libya 2 ./MET 2 ./NZ 2 ./NZ-CHAT 2 ./PRC 2 ./Poland 4 ./Portugal 2 ./ROC 2 ./ROK 2 ./Singapore 2 ./Turkey 2 ./UCT 2 ./UTC 2 ./W-SU 2 ./WET 2 ./posixrules ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRU64 # Time Zone Selection List # # This is the list of time zones which are available for selection. # This file is used by time zone selection utilities such as those # called during installation. With a few exceptions, time zone names # generally follow the naming convention of AREA/LOCATION. Time zones # organized according to the older and less stable COUNTRY/ZONE format # still exist under /etc/zoneinfo/ for compatibility. However, these # are obsolete & are each linked to one of the preferred time zone # files listed here. # Africa/Abidjan Africa/Accra Africa/Addis_Ababa Africa/Algiers Africa/Asmera Africa/Bamako Africa/Bangui Africa/Banjul Africa/Bissau Africa/Blantyre Africa/Brazzaville Africa/Bujumbura Africa/Cairo Africa/Casablanca Africa/Ceuta Africa/Conakry Africa/Dakar Africa/Dar_es_Salaam Africa/Djibouti Africa/Douala Africa/El_Aaiun Africa/Freetown Africa/Gaborone Africa/Harare Africa/Johannesburg Africa/Kampala Africa/Khartoum Africa/Kigali Africa/Kinshasa Africa/Lagos Africa/Libreville Africa/Lome Africa/Luanda Africa/Lubumbashi Africa/Lusaka Africa/Malabo Africa/Maputo Africa/Maseru Africa/Mbabane Africa/Mogadishu Africa/Monrovia Africa/Nairobi Africa/Ndjamena Africa/Niamey Africa/Nouakchott Africa/Ouagadougou Africa/Porto-Novo Africa/Sao_Tome Africa/Timbuktu Africa/Tripoli Africa/Tunis Africa/Windhoek America/Adak America/Anchorage America/Anguilla America/Antigua America/Araguaina America/Aruba America/Asuncion America/Barbados America/Belem America/Belize America/Bogota America/Boise America/Buenos_Aires America/Cancun America/Caracas America/Catamarca America/Cayenne America/Cayman America/Chicago America/Chihuahua America/Cordoba America/Costa_Rica America/Cuiaba America/Curacao America/Dawson America/Dawson_Creek America/Denver America/Detroit America/Dominica America/Edmonton America/El_Salvador America/Ensenada America/Fortaleza America/Glace_Bay America/Godthab America/Goose_Bay America/Grand_Turk America/Grenada America/Guadeloupe America/Guatemala America/Guayaquil America/Guyana America/Halifax America/Havana America/Indiana/Indianapolis America/Indiana/Knox America/Indiana/Marengo America/Indiana/Vevay America/Indianapolis America/Inuvik America/Iqaluit America/Jamaica America/Jujuy America/Juneau America/La_Paz America/Lima America/Los_Angeles America/Louisville America/Maceio America/Managua America/Manaus America/Martinique America/Mazatlan America/Mendoza America/Menominee America/Mexico_City America/Miquelon America/Montevideo America/Montreal America/Montserrat America/Nassau America/New_York America/Nipigon America/Nome America/Noronha America/Panama America/Pangnirtung America/Paramaribo America/Phoenix America/Port-au-Prince America/Port_of_Spain America/Porto_Acre America/Porto_Velho America/Puerto_Rico America/Rainy_River America/Rankin_Inlet America/Regina America/Rosario America/Santiago America/Santo_Domingo America/Sao_Paulo America/Scoresbysund America/Shiprock America/St_Johns America/St_Kitts America/St_Lucia America/St_Thomas America/St_Vincent America/Swift_Current America/Tegucigalpa America/Thule America/Thunder_Bay America/Tijuana America/Tortola America/Vancouver America/Whitehorse America/Winnipeg America/Yakutat America/Yellowknife Antarctica/Casey Antarctica/Davis Antarctica/DumontDUrville Antarctica/Mawson Antarctica/McMurdo Antarctica/Palmer Antarctica/South_Pole Antarctica/Syowa Arctic/Longyearbyen Asia/Aden Asia/Almaty Asia/Amman Asia/Anadyr Asia/Aqtau Asia/Aqtobe Asia/Ashkhabad Asia/Baghdad Asia/Bahrain Asia/Baku Asia/Bangkok Asia/Beirut Asia/Beijing Asia/Bishkek Asia/Brunei Asia/Calcutta Asia/Chungking Asia/Colombo Asia/Dacca Asia/Damascus Asia/Dubai Asia/Dushanbe Asia/Gaza Asia/Harbin Asia/Hong_Kong Asia/Irkutsk Asia/Istanbul Asia/Jakarta Asia/Jayapura Asia/Jerusalem Asia/Kabul Asia/Kamchatka Asia/Karachi Asia/Kashgar Asia/Katmandu Asia/Krasnoyarsk Asia/Kuala_Lumpur Asia/Kuching Asia/Kuwait Asia/Macao Asia/Magadan Asia/Manila Asia/Muscat Asia/Nicosia Asia/Novosibirsk Asia/Omsk Asia/Phnom_Penh Asia/Pyongyang Asia/Qatar Asia/Rangoon Asia/Riyadh Asia/Saigon Asia/Samarkand Asia/Seoul Asia/Shanghai Asia/Singapore Asia/Taipei Asia/Tashkent Asia/Tbilisi Asia/Tehran Asia/Thimbu Asia/Tokyo Asia/Ujung_Pandang Asia/Ulan_Bator Asia/Urumqi Asia/Vientiane Asia/Vladivostok Asia/Yakutsk Asia/Yekaterinburg Asia/Yerevan Atlantic/Azores Atlantic/Bermuda Atlantic/Canary Atlantic/Cape_Verde Atlantic/Faeroe Atlantic/Jan_Mayen Atlantic/Madeira Atlantic/Reykjavik Atlantic/South_Georgia Atlantic/St_Helena Atlantic/Stanley Australia/Adelaide Australia/Brisbane Australia/Broken_Hill Australia/Darwin Australia/Hobart Australia/Lindeman Australia/Lord_Howe Australia/Melbourne Australia/Perth Australia/Sydney CET CST6CDT EET EST EST5EDT Etc/GMT Etc/GMT+0 Etc/GMT+1 Etc/GMT+10 Etc/GMT+11 Etc/GMT+12 Etc/GMT+13 Etc/GMT+2 Etc/GMT+3 Etc/GMT+4 Etc/GMT+5 Etc/GMT+6 Etc/GMT+7 Etc/GMT+8 Etc/GMT+9 Etc/GMT-0 Etc/GMT-1 Etc/GMT-10 Etc/GMT-11 Etc/GMT-12 Etc/GMT-13 Etc/GMT-14 Etc/GMT-2 Etc/GMT-3 Etc/GMT-4 Etc/GMT-5 Etc/GMT-6 Etc/GMT-7 Etc/GMT-8 Etc/GMT-9 Etc/GMT0 Etc/Greenwich Etc/UCT Etc/UTC Etc/Universal Etc/Zulu Europe/Amsterdam Europe/Andorra Europe/Athens Europe/Belfast Europe/Belgrade Europe/Berlin Europe/Bratislava Europe/Brussels Europe/Bucharest Europe/Budapest Europe/Chisinau Europe/Copenhagen Europe/Dublin Europe/Gibraltar Europe/Helsinki Europe/Istanbul Europe/Kaliningrad Europe/Kiev Europe/Lisbon Europe/Ljubljana Europe/London Europe/Luxembourg Europe/Madrid Europe/Malta Europe/Minsk Europe/Monaco Europe/Moscow Europe/Oslo Europe/Paris Europe/Prague Europe/Riga Europe/Rome Europe/Samara Europe/San_Marino Europe/Sarajevo Europe/Simferopol Europe/Skopje Europe/Sofia Europe/Stockholm Europe/Tallinn Europe/Tirane Europe/Vaduz Europe/Vatican Europe/Vienna Europe/Vilnius Europe/Warsaw Europe/Zagreb Europe/Zurich Factory HST Indian/Antananarivo Indian/Chagos Indian/Christmas Indian/Cocos Indian/Comoro Indian/Kerguelen Indian/Mahe Indian/Maldives Indian/Mauritius Indian/Mayotte Indian/Reunion MET MST MST7MDT PST8PDT Pacific/Apia Pacific/Auckland Pacific/Chatham Pacific/Easter Pacific/Efate Pacific/Enderbury Pacific/Fakaofo Pacific/Fiji Pacific/Funafuti Pacific/Galapagos Pacific/Gambier Pacific/Guadalcanal Pacific/Guam Pacific/Honolulu Pacific/Johnston Pacific/Kiritimati Pacific/Kosrae Pacific/Kwajalein Pacific/Majuro Pacific/Marquesas Pacific/Midway Pacific/Nauru Pacific/Niue Pacific/Norfolk Pacific/Noumea Pacific/Pago_Pago Pacific/Palau Pacific/Pitcairn Pacific/Ponape Pacific/Port_Moresby Pacific/Rarotonga Pacific/Saipan Pacific/Tahiti Pacific/Tarawa Pacific/Tongatapu Pacific/Truk Pacific/Wake Pacific/Wallis Pacific/Yap SystemV/AST4 SystemV/AST4ADT SystemV/CST6 SystemV/CST6CDT SystemV/EST5 SystemV/EST5EDT SystemV/HST10 SystemV/MST7 SystemV/MST7MDT SystemV/PST8 SystemV/PST8PDT SystemV/YST9 SystemV/YST9YDT WET -- François REYGAGNE. Software Architect. opt[e]way S.A., 2881 route des Crêtes, BP308 06906 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, FRANCE tél: +33 (0)4 92 95 27 01 http://www.opteway.com

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Info on timechanges in Sweden
by Ivan Nilsson April 13, 2001

April 13, 2001

I'd like to make a contribution to the timechanges in Sweden found in your timezone file. Sweden has never had the Mean Time of Stockholm as national Standard Time, and never switched to/from summertime at 1:00 from 1980 onwards. The correct entries are: GMTOFF RULES FORMAT [UNTIL] 1:12:12 LMT 1879 (1878 May 31 is incorrect) 1:00:14 SEST 1900 (change at 01:00 is incorrect) # Sweden Standard Time 1:00:00 CET 1916 May 14 23:00 (April 14 is incorrect) 1:00:00 1:00 CEST 1916 I'm not sure about this, see explanation below. All of the above is stated in lawtexts (unfortunately I have only found them in Swedish). The law "Svensk författningssamling 1878, no 14" about standard time in 1879: >From the beginning of 1879 (that is January 1 0:00) the time for all places in the country is "the mean solar time for the meridian at three degrees, or twelve minutes of time, to the west of the meridian of the Observatory of Stockholm". The law is dated 31 May 1878. The observatory at that time had the meridian 18 degrees 03' 30" eastern longitude = 1 hour 12 minutes 14 seconds in time. Less 12 minutes give the national standard time as 1 hour 00 minutes 14 seconds ahead of GMT. (The observatory is in the centre of Stockholm.) I suggest SEST rather than SST or ST because other time standards already use them (SE = the internation code for Sweden). About the beginning of CET in Sweden. The lawtext ("Svensk författningssamling 1899, no 44") states, that "from the beginning of 1900... ... the same as the mean solar time for the meridian at the distance of one hour of time from the meridian of the English observatory at Greenwich, or at 12 minutes 14 seconds to the west from the meridan of the Observatory of Stockholm". The law is dated 16 June 1899. In short: At 0:00:00 January 1 1900 the new standard time i Sweden is 1:00:00 ahead of GMT. I have photo copies of these laws. If you like I can scan them and mail them to you. Now the summertimes. 1916: The lawtext ("Svensk författningssamling 1916, no 124") states, that "May 15 1916 is considered to begin one hour earlier". It is pretty obviuos that at 23:00 May 14 the clocks are set to 0:00 May 15 (thus the timezone file is correct). Further the law says, that "September 30 1916 is considered to end one our later". This is a most ambigous statement. One way to interprete this: At 0:00 October 1 the clocks are set back to 23:00 Sept 30. But in practice it appears that the changes somehow involved 1:00 on October 1. A news report I recently found is not clear on what exactly happened except that 1:00 October 1 is involved. The text report about trains standing still for one hour in the night and is written in a way that invistes two interpretations: 1. At 0:00 October 1 the trains stop and stand still for one hour, and then the clock is set to 0:00 summertime October 1 and the trains continue the journey. 2. At 1:00 October 1 the trains stop, the clock is set back to 0:00, and when it again is 1:00 summertime the trains move again. I am sorry I have not been able to get this matter crystal clear. I live close to a university so I hope I will able able to find sometime more useful there. The rules given in the timezone file for the summertimes from 1980 onwards have the correct dates, but I am afraid the times are incorrect. The laws regulating summertime explicitly states that, when summertime begins, the clocks are set forward from 2:00 to 3:00 in the night. When summertime ends, the clocks are set back from 3:00 to 2:00 in the night. So, the time 1:00:00 is in no way involved in the summertime changes in Sweden nowadays. The laws regulating this are available on the site of the Swedish Parliament beginning with 1985 - the laws regulating 1980 - 1984 is not available on the site (to my knowledge they are only available in Swedish): http://www.riksdagen.se/english/work/sfst.asp (type "sommartid" without the quotes in the field "Fritext" and then click the Sök-button). I really appreciate your excellent work compiling all that time information from all around the world. /Ivan Nilsson

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Time Lord
by Olson, Arthur David (NCI) April 12, 2001

April 12, 2001

April 10, 2001 was the United States release date for "Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time" by Clark Blaise. It was reviewed in Discover magazine, so expect ready availability (there were two copies in the Friendship Heights DC Borders when I visited). Presumably Fleming's fellow Canadian William Shatner will take the lead role in the big-screen version. --ado

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How to Upgrade tzdata and tzcode into a unix server
by francois reygagne April 11, 2001

April 11, 2001

I would like to upgrade the tzdata and tzcode automatically into my server for each upgrade of the olson tz data to prevent from bad local_time calculation. I would like to make my server know that a new release of tzdata/tzcode is available and make it load the new tzdata release and override the previous. Please, let me know how to do that ? -- François REYGAGNE. Software Architect. opt[e]way S.A., 2881 route des Crêtes, BP308 06906 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, FRANCE tél: +33 (0)4 92 95 27 01 http://www.opteway.com

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Convert local time to gmt time without using TZ Env variable
by francois reygagne April 11, 2001

April 11, 2001

The ftcs unix mktime use the function tzset to initialize time conversion information by setting an environment variable. That is not thread-safe. As I want to work in multi_threaded design with different time-zone, one per each thread, I can't use the unix standard fonctions like mktime. I need a thread-safe function that converts a local-time attached to its timezone into a GMT time as follow: void localtime_to_gmt(const char * timezone, const struct tm localtime, time_t * gmt_time); The right way to do that is to change TZ, but that is not thread-safe Is it feasible to recode (public-domain) Olson timezone sources to use an explicit state parameter rather than relying on global variables ? Is there a free software portable to Linux RedHat, OSF Tru64, HP_UX and Sun Solaris 5.8 using olson tzdata which can do that ? Is there someone who knows the design or have a design document relative to olson software to help me. François REYGAGNE. Software Architect. opt[e]way S.A., 2881 route des Crêtes, BP308 06906 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, FRANCE tél: +33 (0)4 92 95 27 01 http://www.opteway.com -- François REYGAGNE. Software Architect. opt[e]way S.A., 2881 route des Crêtes, BP308 06906 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, FRANCE tél: +33 (0)4 92 95 27 01 http://www.opteway.com

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RE: Reuters on Mexican DST
by Jesper Nørgaard April 10, 2001

April 10, 2001

Note that there is another link about the decision to nullify Andrés Miguel López Obrador decree to abandon DST in Distrito Federal: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010407/wl/clock_confusion_1.html Regards, Jesper Nørgaard Welen Email: jnorgard(a)Prodigy.Net.mx Programador/Analista 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 (5) 58-04-20-04 ext. 1374 Fax: +52 (5) 58-04-75-58 Tel. Casa: 53-10-05-95 ó 53-10-97-78 CIMMYT home page: http://cimmyt.cgiar.org Check out my free program World Time Explorer: http://timezone50.homepage.com ---------- From: Olson, Arthur David (NCI)[SMTP:olsona@dc37a.nci.nih.gov] Sent: Martes 10 de Abril de 2001 12:00 To: tz (E-mail) Cc: 'mikebw(a)colossus.bilow.com' Subject: Reuters on Mexican DST Mike Bilow (mikebw(a)colossus.bilow.com) sent along word of a Reuters item on Mexican DST; see http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010410/od/mexico_timechange_dc_1.html for details (and note the copyright notice at the end, which is why I don't simply include it here). --ado

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Reuters on Mexican DST
by Olson, Arthur David (NCI) April 10, 2001

April 10, 2001

Mike Bilow (mikebw(a)colossus.bilow.com) sent along word of a Reuters item on Mexican DST; see http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010410/od/mexico_timechange_dc_1.html for details (and note the copyright notice at the end, which is why I don't simply include it here). --ado

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Mexico's Tempest in a Time Change
by Mike Bilow April 10, 2001

April 10, 2001

Yahoo! News Home - Yahoo! - My Yahoo! - News Alerts - Help _________________________________________________________________ Reuters New Media Yahoo! Online Account Access NextCard Internet Visa - Apply Now Home | Top Stories | Business | Tech | Politics | World | Local | Ente rtainment | Sports | Science | Health Oddly Enough Headlines Reuters Tuesday April 10 10:21 AM ET Mexico's Tempest in a Time Change MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - If leftist Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gets his way, the capital could operate in a different time zone from the rest of the country, out of line even with its own suburbs. With the federal government and mayor's office reportedly locking horns this week in legal maneuvers, many Mexicans fear that if Lopez Obrador prevails there would be chaos for airlines, television broadcasts, school schedules and lunch appointments. Lopez Obrador, who took office late last year, in February decreed clocks would stay put in the capital on May 5 when the rest of the country is scheduled to adopt daylight savings time, moving clocks ahead one hour. The capital of some 9 million people, is part of a greater urban area of some 19 million. So the core of the metropolis would be one hour behind all of its suburbs. Lopez Obrador's government has filed a constitutional challenge to daylight savings in general, before the nation's Supreme Court, arguing that the president does not have power under Mexico's constitution to impose the time change. According to local press reports, this week the government of conservative President Vicente Fox counter-sued, asking the nation's top court to knock down Lopez Obrador's February decree. Mexico adopted the time change in 1996, to put the country in tune with its northern neighbor and biggest trading partner, the United States. But daylight savings has never been popular here. Many argue that it is dangerous for children to walk to school in the dark. And last year in congressional debates, at least one legislator argued that darkness inhibited morning sex. The Supreme Court has promised to issue a resolution on the suit and the counter-suit by May 1, just days before Fox has decreed that the country will move clocks ahead. Email this story - View most popular | Formatted version _________________________________________________________________ _________________________ Search Advanced Search: (_) Stories (_) Photos (_) Full Coverage Home | Top Stories | Business | Tech | Politics | World | Local | Ente rtainment | Sports | Science | Health _________________________________________________________________ Questions or Comments Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

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