[tz] timezone DB distribution

[Tom Lane]

Guy Harris <guy at alum.mit.edu> writes:
> On Aug 17, 2020, at 12:01 PM, Juergen Naeckel via tz <tz at iana.org> wrote:
>> First of all, a tar.gz is Linux specific.
>> True, you could install additional Windows software.  But, that might not go well with customers of mine.  I think a ZIP would be acceptable for both worlds.

> ...offering both a tarball and a zipball might be a good idea (zip exists as a UN*X command, and ships with at least UN*Xes, but UN*X users may be less used to it).

While there's nothing particularly wrong with providing a zip-format
archive if Paul and Tim feel like doing so, I find myself skeptical that
there's actually a need for that.  The primary tzdata distribution is
*not* oriented towards the sort of end user who might find the lack
of a zipball to be an impediment.  Rather, that dataset is meant to
be consumed by OS-level packagers who will then push it out in
system updates for their respective platforms.  (Hello, Microsoft?)
I recall prior discussion in this list to the effect that the iana.org
website is simply not provisioned to the point where lots of individual
users directly downloading the data could be supported.  So being mass
market friendly seems like an anti-goal.

			regards, tom lane