I propose not to fork tzdb and instead revoke the proposed
   changes until we can agree on a *complete* picture of how the
   changes can be effected without inducing undue burdens on any
   downstream user. Fixing singular aspects of the proposed
   change does not seem to suffice in this situation.

   We know one possible solution, proposed by Stephen Colebourne
   (but others might be worth considering as well):

   ∙ the main line data of tzdb should contain all the historical
     data we have, and SHOULD be maintained as such;

   ∙ there are options to reduce the amount of historical data by
     merging timezones with links and/or by stripping old
     transitions from timezone data; such options MAY be added
     if necessary;

   ∙ using zic with the same options on successive versions of
     tzdb data SHOULD not lead to major changes in the scope
     and structure of the TZif results;

   ∙ similarly, for those using the tzdb data directly, the
     organization of tzdb data into files SHOULD not change
     significantly across successive versions.