[tz] [PATCH 0/1] Add Asia/Beijing

[Alan Mintz]

At 2012-08-13 12:49, James M Leddy wrote:
>...For
>    example, we have a link from the Vatican to Rome, even though it
>    should be pretty obvious that they're the same time zone...

IIRC, given the history of time and calendars, it makes sense to have a 
separate time zone for the Vatican, even though it is currently the same 
:)  Cultural enclaves often observe their own rules regarding time zones, 
as evidenced by several Native American entities in the US (Navajo, Hopi 
within Navajo, and Metlakatla come to mind).

There has always been an issue with having identifiers named by cities 
only. Some of the US identifiers are not familiar to many people, even when 
they are within their own state. IMO, a separate table, containing links 
from at least the commercial capital of each country to its time zone, 
would seem to be the best solution. Specific support for a local version of 
the table (that would be preserved across updates) would be good, too. Save 
changes to the main rule files for real changes in parameters, not synonyms.

--
Alan Mintz <Alan_Mintz+TZ_IANA at Earthlink.net>