[tz] Belarus is listed in MSK timezone

[Julian Cable]

There are systems which unfortunately want to use abbreviations in pick lists. Ambiguous abbreviations are not ideal. 

Julian

> On 1 Apr 2015, at 09:20, "Dzmitry Kazimirchyk" <dkazimirchyk at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Paul, thank you for the informative response.
> 
> I agree that the most commonly used name for Belarus time zone is indeed "Minsk time". However I don't think your proposed change addresses all the issues here. MSK abbreviation has a long history and is commonly referred to as "Moscow time". See for example:
> 
> http://www.timeanddate.com/time/zones/msk
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Time
> 
> Which I assume isn't going to change in the near future, if will be changed at all. So it introduces certain confusion, and can arguably be considered discriminatory towards the country of Belarus.
> 
> Having said that I think the most appropriate solution would be to have separate abbreviation for "Minsk time" be it either "FET" or something else like "MNSK". However again I'm not sure how it aligns with IANA policies, and would like to hear your opinion on handling such or similar situations in the past.
> 
> 
> --
> Dzmitry Kazimirchyk
> 
>> On 4/1/15 9:19 AM, Paul Eggert wrote:
>>> On 03/30/2015 08:46 AM, Dzmitry Kazimirchyk wrote:
>>> my local timezone is displayed as MSK (Moscow Time) instead of FET
>>> (Further Eastearn European Time).
>> 
>> The most common English-language name for UTC+3 in Belarus nowadays
>> seems to be "Minsk time", e.g.:
>> 
>> http://eng.belta.by/all_news/sport/Slovakia-flatten-Switzerland-at-Christmas-ice-hockey-tournament-in-Minsk_i_78546.html
>> 
>> http://eng.belta.by/all_news/sport/MAZ-SPORTavto-manages-12th-place-in-Dakar-Rally-Stage-9_i_78702.html
>> 
>> http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-ceasefire-agreement-donbass-conflict-resolution-in-minsk/5431007
>> 
>> http://www.minskairport.com/minsk-airport-arrivals-online-timetable.html
>> 
>> From 2011 to 2014 a time zone separated EET (UTC+2) from MSK (then
>> UTC+4), and I invented the abbreviation "FET" for this UTC+3 zone. But
>> it's better if the tz database reflects existing practice rather than
>> inventing it, and since we no longer have a strong need for an invented
>> abbreviation I'd rather stop using it.  Instead, we can document that
>> "MSK" is now ambiguous, and stands for either Minsk or Moscow time, as
>> in the attached proposed patch.
>