[tz] tzdist and tz at iana

[Paul Eggert]

Alexander Belopolsky wrote:
> I have been looking at RFC 7808 (aka tzdist) and I wonder what is the
> relationship between the proposed distribution standard and this project.

tzdist is a protocol for distibuting data derived from the tz project, along 
with other data (e.g., localization of zone names like "America/Los_Angeles").

> The distribution format looks like a text
> variant of the binary zoneinfo files, but it is not clear whether or not
> the distributed data includes timezone abbreviations.

It should. That data is not specified directly by RFC 7808; it's in RFC 5545. 
There's not a 1-1 relationship between tzdist data and tz data.

> Are there any plans to support the tzdist format in tzcode?  Will IANA run
> its own "Time Zone Data Server"?

I don't know of any plans. As I've said, IANA doesn't have the resources to 
serve billions of clients.