Updated Australian time zone names/strings

[David Madeo]

<Caution: cross posted to both ietf-calendar and tz mailgroups.    Please
reply carefully>

Since I'm a lurker on both the tz and ietf lists, occasionally I see that
it's appropriate to mix the audiences.  This thread from the tz list is
whether the tz maintainers should be trying to uniquify the timezone
abbreviations such as "EST" which can mean several different timezones
around the world, depending on whether you ask an Australian or an American.

Greg Black wrote:

> Paul Eggert wrote:
>
> | * How important are unique time zone abbreviations?
> |
> |   Here I tend to agree with the point (most recently made by Chris
> |   Newman) that unique abbreviations should not be essential for proper
> |   operation of software.
>
> I think this flies in the face of common sense and the old
> principle about being flexible in handling input while trying to
> make output as good as possible.

I'd certainly prefer unique and unambiguous abbreviations (AEST) as well as
unique names "Australia/Sydney" based on the Continent/Largest City.
Anytime we can reduce confusion and make something easier for people *and*
computers to understand, we should.

> || The final decision is Arthur David Olson's, since he's maintaining
> | the database.  My own mild preference for now (given what's been said
> | so far) would be to leave it alone.
>
> I know the decision is in Arthur David Olson's hands, but I
> would imagine that he will be responsive to the wishes of the
> affected parties.  I'm keen to see more input into this.

The tz database is the closest thing to a "standard" timezone listing.  As
such, there's a lot of benefit if it does the "right" thing.   I've cc'd the
ietf list since they are effectively "users" of this sort of data and might
have some input.

dmadeo
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