"Arthur" == Arthur David Olson <Olson> writes:
My second question concerns leap seconds. It appears that the leap second data is associated with every zone file. Why isn't it simply Arthur> the same for everything, and global?
Arthur> There was a year when New York observed the leap second at Arthur> midnight local time rather than midnight UCT; this allowed Arthur> the countdown at Times Square to go "3...2...1...leap...Happy Arthur> New Year." While the data files reflect the legal reality of Arthur> the situation, we've left code in place to allow oddball Arthur> observance of leap seconds for those who want it. A Arthur> consequence is that leap data must be stored on a Arthur> zone-by-zone basis. The amount of leap data per zone is, of Arthur> course, fairly small. I find this odd. Leap seconds are defined by BIH, i.e., they are an international standard, not merely the local whim of some random mayor. While it is fun to think of a leap second observation at Times Square, that doesn't mean it's real. I would think it's better to ignore such games. paul