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

Paul_Koning at Dell.com Paul_Koning at Dell.com
Wed Aug 28 18:07:55 UTC 2013


On Aug 28, 2013, at 1:23 PM, 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".  

For your first example, that is clearly not correct.  Navajo Nation is (in part anyway) contained within Arizona, but it keeps time different from the rest of Arizona.  Hopi nation follows Arizona rules and is in Arizona, so it doesn't get its own entry.

So the answer is not "we felt like it" but "the data are different".

	paul



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