[tz] Are tzdata2016g & tzdata-latest missing the VERSION file?

Paul.Koning at dell.com Paul.Koning at dell.com
Fri Sep 30 19:10:33 UTC 2016


> On Sep 30, 2016, at 2:53 PM, Paul Eggert <eggert at CS.UCLA.EDU> wrote:
> 
> ...
> I'm also worried that downstream distributors will modify the data but still call it "2016g". We are considering installing the version number along with the other data; if we do that, this mislabeling problem will get worse because the wrong label will become part of the runtime environment, and having the wrong version number in a development Makefile will likely contribute to the mislabeling.

It's inherent in any open source project that this can happen.  You're dependent on the competence of distributors, which may vary.  I know that Red Hat, for example, is careful to mark local changes as such and to add a fourth part to the version number to carry their local change number.  If some other distributor is not so competent, you can point out to them the error of their ways.  For egregious cases, public shaming is an option.

	paul




More information about the tz mailing list