On 30 March 2013 22:37, Robert Elz <kre@munnari.oz.au> wrote:
From: Timothy Arceri <t.arceri@bom.gov.au> | The issue is not that the identifiers are not unique worldwide. | The problem is that they are not unique to bordering states in the | same country which run along the same time zone.
The problem is that you're using those absurd abbreviations at all. Just stop using the things, and all the problems you're having with them will magically go away.
[snipped much additional similar comment] I don't comment here much, but I do think that a little more humility towards users is warranted. Its clear from the many discussions over the years that a majority of Australians want this change. Its not one that greatly affects anyone negatively AFAICT. And it clearly does cause some users pain. Whether the pain is of there own making, or whether they shouldn't be doing what they are doing, really is a secondary point. The fact is that they *are* using the data in that way. Unless the tzdb authors want to remove the data in that column entirely, then users are going to continue to use/misuse it. In summary, please make the change, because deliberately inflicting pain on users, even if you disagree with their use cases, just isn't right or fair. Stephen