On 28 August 2013 18:23, Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
On 08/28/13 10:05, Paul_Koning@Dell.com wrote:
The most you can argue from its words is that data prior to 1970 is definitely not complete
The rules for specifying how to partition the world into regions specify the "somewhat-arbitrary cutoff point of the POSIX Epoch (1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC)". If clocks in two locations agree after 1970, the two locations are in the same region.
If we relaxed this rule, and allowed multiple regions even though their clocks agreed since 1970, that will be a recipe for more political disputes. For example, why does the Navajo Nation have its own entry while the Hopi Nation doesn't? Or, why does Quebec have its own entry while Prince Edward Island lacks one? Currently, our only real answer is "because we felt like it". That is not a fair answer, and it will inevitably lead to more political problems in the future.
Adding data does not cause great problems. Removing it does. That is the nature of backwards compatibility in a project vital to world computing. Time-zones are a political thing. That can't be escaped. Stephen