Is there some document that explains what the posix and right subdirectories in my Linux' /usr/share/zoneinfo are all about? Are they a regular Zoneinfo thing, or are they somehow specific to Debian Linux? I checked theory.html and didn't see anything related to this. --Bill Seymour
On 2024-03-05 06:11, Bill Seymour via tz wrote:
Is there some document that explains what the posix and right subdirectories in my Linux' /usr/share/zoneinfo are all about? Are they a regular Zoneinfo thing, or are they somehow specific to Debian Linux?
This is covered in the Makefile: look for the strings "posix_right" and "right_posix". Debian still uses the scheme that TZDB used before 1998. That scheme has problems (see the Makefile comments before the "right_posix:" lines) but I guess they're willing to live with the problems. To some extent this stuff will become obsolescent once leap seconds are discontinued. It'll still be an issue for old timestamps of course.
On Tue, 2024-03-05 at 08:11 -0600, Bill Seymour via tz wrote:
Is there some document that explains what the posix and right subdirectories in my Linux' /usr/share/zoneinfo are all about? Are they a regular Zoneinfo thing, or are they somehow specific to Debian Linux?
I checked theory.html and didn't see anything related to this.
The package description of tzdata-legacy should explain it: This package contains timezones counted in International Atomic Time with a -10 second offset (TAI-10s) in /usr/share/zoneinfo/right. This is the current IBM recommended setting of hardware clocks on IBM mainframes, which ran on GMT until the inception of UTC in 1972 when TAI was 10 seconds ahead of UTC. IBM switched to running clocks at the atomic rate and introduced the 10-second offset in order to avoid a discontinuity. . This package also contains legacy timezone symlinks that are not following the current rule of using the geographical region (continent or ocean) and city name. . You do not need this package if you are unsure. -- Benjamin Drung Debian & Ubuntu Developer
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Benjamin Drung -
Bill Seymour -
Paul Eggert