Paul Eggert wrote: [dd]
Another problem with abbreviations like NOVT is that their meanings change with time. For example, NOVT stands for +06 now, but it stands for +07 before October 2014, for +06 again before March 2011, etc. The ambiguity of "NOVT" is atypical for English-language time zone abbreviations, and this unexpected aspect of our invented abbreviations can easily confuse non-experts.
In contrast, abbreviations like +06 and +07 are unambiguous.
For once in a while I agree with your argument. This is the same reason I don't quite like the idea of calling Russian timezones "MSK+4", "MSK-1" etc because the Moscow time itself is fickle: its UTC offset has changed several times with the introduction and abolishment of the decree time.
So remove the feature entirely.
That's not a practical option, as time zone abbreviations are a standard part of ISO C, of POSIX, and of many programming systems that use a tzcode-like interface, so we need to put *something* in there. Numeric abbreviations are reasonable placeholders for zones lacking well-supported English-language time zone abbreviations.
I suggest a compromise: don't remove what's already there (like KRAST), but don't invent any new abbreviations. Even if the original source of "KRAST" is tzdata itself, it has already taken root elswhere. -- Victor Sudakov, VAS4-RIPE, VAS47-RIPN sip:sudakov@sibptus.tomsk.ru