On Apr 2, 2015, at 5:01 AM, Lester Caine <lester@lsces.co.uk> wrote:
MSK *IS* simply a rule set
No, it's not. MSK is a time zone abbreviation. "C-Eur", "Russia", and "-" (as in "we never turn the clocks backward or forward") are rule sets. Various time zones have used those rule sets with different time zone abbreviations; rule sets specify only the "variable part" of the time zone abbreviation, i.e. the part that changes between standard and summer/daylight saving time, they don't specify the rest - for example, the US rules specify "D" and "S", but don't specify "P{S,D}T" vs. "M{S,D}T" vs. "C{S,D}T" vs. "E{S,D}T"....
- Europe/Minsk is the time zone identifier which provides the link to the set of rules bing used.
Sets of rules, plural - Europe/Minsk switched between "C-Eur", "Russia", and "-" i.e. "none", and is currently using "none" rather than "Russia" (as is Europe/Moscow).