[tz] Reason for removal of several TZ

Tim Parenti tim at timtimeonline.com
Sun Dec 3 19:59:22 UTC 2017


On 3 December 2017 at 08:05, Thomas M Steenholdt <tmus at tmus.dk> wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> Almost a year ago, commit 2999bb5bee719acbba8b9dd50fb9fb00c7788623
> removed several TZ abbreviations and I'm trying to understand this.
>

As that commit
<https://github.com/eggert/tz/commit/2999bb5bee719acbba8b9dd50fb9fb00c7788623#diff-ff4e2dc4962dc25a1512353299992c8dR53>
says, it's a switch away from "invented abbreviations".  `git blame` shows
their provenance dates back to this commit
<https://github.com/eggert/tz/commit/eaaf2800958609851cfa66899bd811196b950d61#diff-7612e84033b6f5f1a8b8039d9e25d9b5R17>
from 1996-09-08, which clearly states that the abbreviations were invented
by Paul Eggert and did not reflect any common usage at the time.  Since
2015-08-07, our policy has shifted
<https://github.com/eggert/tz/commit/32282b1278cbad59d7c755df705425e2b486a848>
to *recording* existing usage rather than inventing it, and efforts over
the last ~2 years have been toward removing past inventions like this where
there is no other justification for keeping them.  (Search the NEWS file
for "invented", or just observe the number of zones now with numeric
"abbreviations".)

WGT/WGST seems to be a widely accepted abbreviation for the West
> Greenland Time zone. So can someone explain to me the reason behind the
> removal and what would needed to get it re-implemented?
>

Basically, proof supporting your point that it is "widely accepted".
 Specifically, that it is a reasonably-commonly used abbreviation in
English-language news reports, official documents, etc. by media,
government, and the like, and in particular, that such usage is *not* primarily
influenced simply by the abbreviations having been used by tz in the past.
It's not an insurmountable bar, but it does require a bit more
documentation than a simple assertion.

--
Tim Parenti
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