On 2016-08-24 08:56, Ian Abbott wrote:
On 24 August 2016 12:40:16 p.m. Robert Elz <kre@munnari.OZ.AU> wrote:
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2016 16:55:42 -0700 From: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu> Message-ID: <1471996545-960-1-git-send-email-eggert@cs.ucla.edu> I am not a fan of this change in general, I think UTC-1 is both more common, and less ambiguous than -01 (from the latter it isn't even obvious that the expression has anything to do with time offsets) but this change in particular ... | -# Zhongyuan Time ("Central plain Time") UT+8 | +# Zhongyuan Time ("Central plain Time") -08 cannot be right. To me, UTC-1 looks too much like a traditional Unix TZ value with negated offset, leading to possible confusion about the direction of the offset. My personal preference would be to use the ±HHMM format (with non-negated offsets), as that is more recognizable as an offset.
I am concerned about: * the downstream effect of these changes on client code * changes like that resulting in a previous banning from the list * duplication of the numeric offset in a useless text string already available as a different format string, and the subsequent need to change that string every time an offset changes * the lack of any legislative or widespread community push towards making unnecessary changes to the data * the lack of any coordination with downstream distributors and consumers e.g. travel industry, airlines, to assess the impact * political impact from outrage by American, Canadian, European, etc. output consumers, managers, IT managers, programmers when their favourite TLA gets replaced by some number based on the UK * increasing possibility of a competing fork as authoritative for large numbers of downstream distributors, hosted by a commercial or political organization with an interest in standards. -- Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada