On Oct 27, 2015, at 2:30 AM, Philip Newton <philip.newton@gmail.com> wrote:
http://qz.com/533126/turkeys-plan-to-ignore-daylight-saving-time-has-been-fo...
Turkey, like other countries on Eastern European Time (EET), was supposed to turn its clocks back by one hour on Sunday (Oct. 25) for the annual end of daylight saving time—or, as it’s known in Europe, “summer time.” But this year, the Turkish government told citizens to wait until Nov. 1 to allow more hours of light for voting in the nation’s upcoming parliamentary elections, reports the BBC.
However, anyone who uses internet- or radio-connected mobile devices or computers to tell time knows that those clocks sync automatically to international standards. Today, Oct. 26, many people in Turkey with the latest Apple, Android, and Windows devices woke up with their clocks an hour slower than the government’s.
That story certainly got some key facts wrong. One substantial error is the claim that timezone rules are "international standards". They are not, with the possible exception of the EU. Instead, they are national rules (at best), subject to national political whims. The other substantial error is the implication that software that changed on 10/26 is "latest". It may be the latest software release, but it clearly is not the latest tzdata release. Clearly it isn't sufficient for governments to announce this sort of thing with just 3 or 4 weeks lead time. paul