TZ database content

Greg Black gjb at gbch.net
Sun Feb 11 20:25:09 UTC 2001


matthew green wrote:

> from my point of view (as an australian) using "AEST" is wrong.
> using "AEDT" is *really* wrong.  why?
> 
> no one here uses those abbreviations.

Instead we use "EST" for everything (based on current Unix
implementations), and that's bad for two reasons:

* Most software is hard-wired to equate "EST" with -0500.

* It does not distinguish at all between NSW, which uses summer
  time, and Qld, which doesn't.

If we could get all mailers being used in Australia to drop the
abbreviations altogether and just use offsets, that would work.
But it seems improbable that this could happen.  Replacing the
clearly useless abbreviations with "wrong" but meaningful ones
would at least be useful.



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