[tz] Unacceptable recent changes [wasRe: [PATCH 2/4] Move obsolescent Americas entries to 'backward'.]

[Stephen Colebourne]

On 28 August 2013 18:23, Paul Eggert <eggert at cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
> On 08/28/13 10:05, Paul_Koning at Dell.com wrote:
>> The most you can argue from its words is that data prior to 1970 is definitely not complete
>
> The rules for specifying how to partition
> the world into regions specify the
> "somewhat-arbitrary cutoff point of the POSIX Epoch
> (1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC)".  If clocks in two locations
> agree after 1970, the two locations are in the same
> region.
>
> If we relaxed this rule, and allowed multiple regions
> even though their clocks agreed since 1970, that will
> be a recipe for more political disputes.  For example,
> why does the Navajo Nation have its own entry while
> the Hopi Nation doesn't?  Or, why does Quebec have its
> own entry while Prince Edward Island lacks one?
> Currently, our only real answer is "because we felt
> like it".  That is not a fair answer, and it
> will inevitably lead to more political problems in
> the future.

Adding data does not cause great problems. Removing it does. That is
the nature of backwards compatibility in a project vital to world
computing.

Time-zones are a political thing. That can't be escaped.

Stephen