[tz] leap-seconds.list format

[Paul Eggert]

On 2/6/24 14:25, Byron Torres via tz wrote:

> * What was the motivation for the changes in IERS'es leap-seconds.list
>    file? Is there a record of discussion regarding this?

I don't know the motivation for format changes, or any record of discussion.

> * What was the motivation specifically for the spaces-to-tab change?
>    Did another commonly used software implement a forgiving parser?

Possibly it was merely the text editor used by whatever IERS staff 
member made the file.

TZDB switched from the NIST version to the IERS version because the 
latter is authoritative, is more up-to-date, and is easier to obtain. 
There was quite a bit of discussion of this on the tz mailing list.


> * What is the history of the leap-seconds.list file and file format?

I guess it was originally designed by Judah Levine of NIST. You might 
ask him for details (email address in the old version).

Here is the history I have:

https://github.com/eggert/tz/commits/main/leap-seconds.list

But this goes back only to 2013. The full history surely goes further 
back than that.


> * Is the format for leap-seconds.list defined? Where and how strongly?

It's defined only by the comments in the file itself.
> * If there is no strong, formal definition, would a formal definition of
>    the leap-seconds.list file format be welcome? To whom could I
>    coordinate with?

I suggest writing to the IERS (contact info in the file). You might also 
write Martin Burnicki who's been our liaison with the IERS and who has 
contributed to the tz mailing list.

> * Could at least the spaces be changed back to tabs?

That's up to the IERS, I think. I'd rather that TZDB's copy be 
byte-for-byte identical.