On 03/02/2018 05:16 AM, Debananda Pal wrote:

While upgrading to 2018c timezone, I found below changes :

./etc/localtime  ./etc/localtime    ==> Newly added
./etc/zoneinfo/localtime -> GMT ==> This entry is removed

./etc/zoneinfo/GMT  ./etc/zoneinfo/GMT  ==> Changed to ==> ./etc/zoneinfo/GMT link ./etc/localtime

Most likely you're observing effects of the change that was proposed here:

https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/tz/2017-December/025783.html

If by "." you mean the root of the destination directory, then yes, the link that used to be in ./etc/zoneinfo/localtime is now in ./etc/localtime by default. This is a link to the GMT file (a file that used to be in ./etc/zoneinfo/GMT and is now in ./usr/share/zoneinfo/GMT). You can restore the old behavior by setting the appropriate Makefile macro.

./etc/zoneinfo/US/Pacific-New -> ../America/Los_Angeles ==>  This entry is removed

Yes, that's a consequence of the change proposed here:

https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/tz/2017-November/025476.html

./etc/zoneinfo/Africa/Sao_Tome -> ../Atlantic/St_Helena  ==> Changed to
  ==>  ./etc/zoneinfo/Africa/Sao_Tome ./etc/zoneinfo/Africa/Sao_Tome

Yes, São Tomé and Príncipe got its own Zone, due to the change proposed here:

https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/tz/2018-January/025802.html

In general, if you are curious about changes like this, it's a good idea to clone the git repository here:

https://github.com/eggert/tz

You can then use commands like "git blame" to find out when things changed and why. For example, if you're curious about Africa/Sao_Tome, the command "git blame africa" outputs the the following lines, which identify the IDs and dates of the most-recent revisions affecting lines in Africa/Sao_Tome (there have been three so far this year, as it happens):

2951fa3b (Paul Eggert        2018-01-08 09:03:13 -0800 1068) Zone Africa/Sao_Tome     0:26:56 -    LMT    1884
fff7816c (Paul Eggert        2018-02-16 16:11:42 -0800 1069)     -0:36:45 -    LMT    1912 Jan  1 00:00u # Lisbon MT
a4272fbf (Paul Eggert        2018-01-08 16:12:21 -0800 1070)      0:00    -    GMT    2018 Jan  1 01:00
2951fa3b (Paul Eggert        2018-01-08 09:03:13 -0800 1071)      1:00    -    WAT

You can then issue commands like "git log 2951fa3b^!" and "git log 2951fa3b^!" to find more details about each of the three changes.

Come to think of it, something like the above should be in the file CONTRIBUTING. Proposed patch attached.