I'd like to add two data points to the discussion: 1) CLDR 35 added Kyiv as a formal alternative name. This is the first time that has been done in CLDR. The English (en.xml) file now has the following: <zone type="Europe/Kiev"> <exemplarCity>Kiev</exemplarCity> <exemplarCity alt="formal">Kyiv</exemplarCity> </zone> See: https://unicode-org.atlassian.net/browse/CLDR-11416 https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/commit/7d19b8ab566f42882da9cccddc145b4b9... 2) The English display name given by Windows for this zone is: "(UTC+02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius". It's a different data set, and is influenced by Microsoft's decision-makers, but is indeed a label that has been applied to a time zone with the Kyiv spelling. Given these as precedent, I would not be in favor of renaming the Zone but I would be in favor of a Link entry added for Europe/Kyiv (with Europe/Kiev remaining the Zone entry for now). I get this is backwards from the usual approach, but seems to be a reasonable compromise. Also, I notice that theory.html doesn't discuss Link entries at all. Perhaps that should be rectified? -Matt ________________________________ From: tz <tz-bounces@iana.org> on behalf of Guy Harris <guy@alum.mit.edu> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 2:01 PM To: Bryan J Smith <b.j.smith@ieee.org> Cc: Time Zone Mailing List <tz@iana.org>; John Hawkinson <jhawk@alum.mit.edu> Subject: Re: [tz] WSJ follows AP to Kyiv On Nov 19, 2019, at 1:03 PM, Bryan J Smith <b.j.smith@ieee.org> wrote:
1) What are the thresholds to change the official Zoneinfo Path, not just an alias or other name, but the Path, of a Zone?
theory.html doesn't appear to address this. On 2008-03-18, some name changes were made: Calcutta -> Kolkata Saigon -> Ho_Chi_Minh Both reflect changes made well before 2008; for example, the respelling of Kolkata occurred in 2001: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/02/492447039/tk The first of those changes is the one closest to Kiev vs. Kyiv - the latter isn't just a respelling, it's a renaming, and apparently also corresponded to the incorporation of some other districts outside what was Saigon into the city.
2) How to handle any alias to the old name(s), when the official Path is to be changed (per #1)?
Presumably, the same way that those other changes were made; a Link line is added to the "backward" file, so the old name remains for backwards compatibility, as a link to the new name (at least if you're using a file system that supports links).
3) What historical precedents are there on this matter (I've been trying to look through the change logs), to further validate justification (of #1)?
Perhaps Calcutta -> Kolkata, although that one may not have been as politically sensitive as this one.