A few years back we separated the time zone distribution into two parts, "tzcode" and "tzdata", with the thought that tzcode might be relatively stable. At the end of 1999, though, we're at tzcode1999i.tar.gz and tzdata1999j.tar.gz; so much for relative stability. My notion is to switch to a merged tz2000a.tar.gz here at the start of the 2000s; any comments? --ado
<<On Tue, 11 Jan 2000 09:16:04 -0500, "Olson, Arthur David (NCI)" <olsona@dc37a.nci.nih.gov> said:
A few years back we separated the time zone distribution into two parts, "tzcode" and "tzdata", with the thought that tzcode might be relatively stable. At the end of 1999, though, we're at tzcode1999i.tar.gz and tzdata1999j.tar.gz; so much for relative stability.
Speaking with my operating-system vendor hat on, I think it's somewhat easier to deal with separate distributions. In particular, it's much easier to express the notion of ``the timezone database is version 1999f but the code is version 1998a'', which (for varying values of 1999f and 1998a) better reflects the true state of affairs in several operating systems. While the official tzcode distribution may have been updated often, operating system vendors are generally reluctant to update a core system library (libc) so frequently. This is particularly the case when a substantial merging and testing effort would be required to perform the update. -GAWollman
From: "Olson, Arthur David (NCI)" <olsona@dc37a.nci.nih.gov> Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 09:16:04 -0500 My notion is to switch to a merged tz2000a.tar.gz here at the start of the 2000s; any comments? I'd do whatever's easier for you. If anything, I expect the code to become even less stable soon. (_Somebody_'s gotta port it to 64-bit time_t. :-) Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 17:48:27 +0100 From: Oscar van Vlijmen <o.van.vlijmen@tip.nl> An even more useful suggestion would be to place the WWW.htm file in the directory ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/ I think this is a good idea. Better yet, could it be made available via http at NIH? If not, then I'll volunteer to maintain a copy at http://www.twinsun.com/tz/WWW.htm While we're at it, it might be nice to give it a more descriptive name, e.g. `tz-sources.html' instead of `WWW.htm'. This seems like such a good idea that I've gone ahead and put in the a copy of that web page (with my latest proposed patches) at the above URL. Please feel free to supersede it with an NIH location. Whichever URL you like, we should get it well-indexed, e.g. at: http://dir.yahoo.com/Science/Measurements_and_Units/Time/Time_Zones/ http://dmoz.org/Reference/Time/ http://webexhibits.com/daylightsaving/
From: Oscar van Vlijmen:
An even more useful suggestion would be to place the WWW.htm file in the directory ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/
From Paul Eggert: I think this is a good idea. Better yet, could it be made available via http at NIH? If not, then I'll volunteer to maintain a copy at http://www.twinsun.com/tz/WWW.htm
Reply from Oscar van Vlijmen: Let's talk about modern desktop browsers like the Windows and Macintosh versions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Those browsers have a built-in FTP-client. As soon as they encounter a xxx.htm or xxx.html file on a FTP-served site, they display the contents in a HTML-window. I do not know how the Unix browsers react, but it is possible that it is not necessary to serve the WWW.htm tz-page through a HTTP-port of the NIH-server. It is however a very good idea to maintain an up to date mirror of this page, for instance at twinsun.com.
Oscar van Vlijmen wrote:
Let's talk about modern desktop browsers like the Windows and Macintosh versions of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Those browsers have a built-in FTP-client. As soon as they encounter a xxx.htm or xxx.html file on a FTP-served site, they display the contents in a HTML-window. I do not know how the Unix browsers react,
The same way. -- Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis vom dies! || John Cowan <jcowan@reutershealth.com> Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau, || http://www.reutershealth.com Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau, || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan Und trank die Milch vom Paradies. -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)
Oscar van Vlijmen wrote:
As soon as they encounter a xxx.htm or xxx.html file on a FTP-served site, they display the contents in a HTML-window.
But being able to directly download a large FTP file doesn't help a new user understand where to start to find an explanation/overview of the contents of ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/, but just placing WWW.htm and an index.htm in /pub would do the trick. The index would be "This is ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/ page and it contains the following files " (with one sentence or so per file with a remark about real details can be found inside some of them). Or just bullet list in WWW of _all_ file in /pub would probably solve the problem. Some description all of /pub would be very useful. The WWW.htm could be left in /pub and referenced from this page.
It is however a very good idea to maintain an up to date mirror of this page, for instance at twinsun.com.
That is probably true. -Paul -- Myriad Genetics: http://www.myriad.com/ Java FAQ: http://www.afu.com/javafaq.html (Section 9, Computer Dating)
participants (6)
-
Garrett Wollman -
John Cowan -
Olson, Arthur David (NCI) -
Oscar van Vlijmen -
Paul Eggert -
Paul Hill