On Mon, 01 Apr 2013, David Patte ₯ wrote:
On 2013-04-01 6:28, Alan Barrett wrote:
I don't think that anybody wants the tz database to use different abbreviations from what is in common use in Australia.
I think you may be incorrect. What people want is the most popular and usable standard used in Australia that differentiates between standard/winter time and daylight/summer time.
I think that the Australian people would be better served by abbreviations that differentiate between standard/winter time and daylight/summer time. But, I think that users of the tz database are better served by abbreviations that follow what Australian people actually use, whether or not those abbreviations are logical, or ambiguous, or differentiate between standard/winter time and daylight/summer time.
Several government pages seem to show that a standard for the eastern zone is AEST/AEDT or EST/EDT, yet the database shows EST/EST, which is both ambiguous and, as far as I can tell, not directly recommended on most modern AU government pages.
In this case I dont care for the eastern zone whether AEST/ADST or EST/EDT is used in the database. Either would be better, and less ambiguous than what the database currently uses. And that is the point being made here.
I was under the impression that "Eastern Summer Time" was the official name used in the relevant state legislation, and that "EST" is the obvious and common abbreviation for that name. If the Australian people really use "EDT" or "AEDT" in preference to "EST" then (a) it would be nice if there was a relatively unbiased survey to demonstrate that, and (b) after the result is demonstrated, but not before, it would be sensible for the tz database to follow suit. --apb (Alan Barrett)