[tz] What is LMTZ?

[Stephen Colebourne]

On 20 September 2013 11:28, Lester Caine <lester at lsces.co.uk> wrote:
> Clive D.W. Feather wrote:
>>> If somebody wants to establish a Big Database of all changes in time and
>>> date reckoning, not just establishment of standard time and rules for
>>> changes from standard time, I have no problem with them doing so; I just
>>> don't think the tzdb should be that database, even if whoever establishes
>>> that database chooses to use the tzdb as part of their database (thus
>>> becoming a user of the database).
>>
>> Seconded.
> From which the data for TZ should be extracted ... if that is the way
> forward.
> So we are all working with the same set of data.

I suspect your desire to have all global historical data here at tzdb
puts you in the minority. It is easy for you, and those who want to
join you, to create an alternate repository, suck in the tzdb data and
enhance it. The most likely approach is that you'd use tzdb data after
1970 and your own data before.

For example, the vast majority of the 9 million Java developers will
not want or expect additional IDs or additional historic data. By
contrast, they will want and expect reasonable historic data for those
IDs that do exist currently (and for that data to be enhanced over
time, not degraded).

Working elsewhere will give you a lot more freedom and avoid long
discussions here, particularly as history tends to be subjective. This
list should really be about current/future changes to tzdb, and
occasional historic fixes to the current IDs.

Stephen