Fw: Time Zone Names

[Clive D.W. Feather]

Paul Eggert said:
>    3. The ISO 3166 standard Parts 1 and 2 is not IT-enabled, the two letter
>    alpha codes are not stable can and do change (The IANA and Internet domain
>    names also has to address this problem but then underneath all the Internat
>    names are the numeric codes used for the actual routing and addressing
>    among the ISPs, IT-systems, etc.). The ISO 3166 the three digit numeric
>    country code is the most stable and also unique.

> The 3-digit codes are not stable either, as locations change hands
> (the breakup of the Soviet Union being a recent example of wholesale
> reassignments).

Not just that - a 3-digit code will change if there's a territorial
adjustment to the country. The most obvious case is that DE changed numbers
at Reunification, but there have been plenty of more subtle ones.

> In my view, the
> tradeoff is decisively in favor of the familiar alphabetic codes.

Agreed.

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Clive D.W. Feather       | Work: <clive at linx.org>   | Tel: +44 1733 705000
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