On Thu, 05 Sep 2013, Lester Caine wrote:
We need to split the date and code to create two repositories, fork the data repository and then we can get on with TZ+ ...
No, please let's not fork the database. Lets find a way for the tz project to maintain all the information, in a way that satisfies as many people as possible, including (a) those who want thousands of new zones to accommodate pre-1970 time differences, and (b) those who want to install or use subsets of the database that do not have those thousands of new zones. It seems to me that the following changes or additions would be sufficient: 1. Code to extract a subset of zone names according to specified criteria; for example, by selecting only one of several zones that differ pre-1970 but are identical post-1970. Zefram has written a prototype of this code. 2. A process to allow OS vendors, system vendors, packagers, sysadmins, and even end users, to install or use only a subset of the data; for example, by ignoring zones that differ from other zones only in pre-1970 data. Zefram has produced a prototype of such code. 3. (Optional) New notation in the zic input files to make it easier to express the fact that, after some date (or between some pair of dates), one zone follows exactly the same rules as another zone. 4. (Optional) Changes in zic and third party parsers to handle the input notation changes. 5. Guidelines to allow the creation of new zones that differ only for pre-1970 times. 6. Data for new zones that differ only for pre-1970 times. This could be contributed by volunteers. --apb (Alan Barrett)