[tz] Proposed reversions, for moving forward

Stephen Colebourne scolebourne at joda.org
Fri Aug 8 21:24:22 UTC 2014


On 8 August 2014 10:35, Eliot Lear <lear at cisco.com> wrote:
> Just for my own edification, it seems to me that there are some simple
> rules to follow.  Let me know if I'm even close:
>
> 1.  If the data is correct, there is no issue.
> 2.  If the data is known to be false, it should come out.
> 3.  If the data has no basis in fact (e.g., not known to be false but
> also no basis to believe it is true), it should come out.
> 4.  If the data has conflicting historical viewpoints, it is a judgment
> call based on the quality of the reports.

The problem with 2 & 3 is not that the TZDB maintainer thinks or knows
the data to be false, but that there is nothing better to replace it
by. In the absence of something better, leaving it alone seems wise.

Personally, I am OK with data such as 2 & 3 being removed so long as
a) LMT is preserved
b) the switch from LMT to a time-zone is chosen sensibly

Recent changes have not respected either of these points, because they
have simply involved linking time zone A to some other (fairly
randomly selected) time zone B.

While some may argue that LMT is a stupid concept, the reality is that
the database format requires it, and it has been widely relied upon by
consumers of the data. As such, LMT should be accurate, or technically
at least accurate for each zone that differs beyond 1970 and for each
at least one zone per ISO-defined region.

Stephen


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