Paul Eggert wrote:
a large number of us are using genealogical databases Sure, but that's always been outside the scope of the tz project. As the Theory file notes:
the database is not designed for and does not suffice for applications requiring accurate handling of all past times everywhere, as it would take far too much effort and guesswork to record all details of pre-1970 civil timekeeping.
That being said, it might be helpful to have a new file, "attic" say, that records discarded Zone data that may be useful to genealogists. If a genealogy-oriented extension to the tz database ever becomes a reality, it could take over the attic. If there's interest in this, I'll propose a new change along these lines.
I see two areas here ... pre 1970 we need a reliable archive which your 'attic' could provide, but post-1970 the database should produce the correct historic information, so making changes that do not correctly reflect prior history that is within the cover is the major objection? If we look at 1975 will we get the correct historic situation returned? I'm not seeing any timestamp details against these changes which is where the reliability of data is then lost. Having to look at an 'attic' to find post 1970 data just seems wrong? -- Lester Caine - G8HFL ----------------------------- Contact - http://lsces.co.uk/wiki/?page=contact L.S.Caine Electronic Services - http://lsces.co.uk EnquirySolve - http://enquirysolve.com/ Model Engineers Digital Workshop - http://medw.co.uk Rainbow Digital Media - http://rainbowdigitalmedia.co.uk