[tz] Request for change to the tz database

Brian Inglis Brian.Inglis at SystematicSw.ab.ca
Tue Feb 9 19:45:58 UTC 2021


On 2021-02-08 17:39, John Hawkinson wrote:
> (That question is the logical outgrowth of the first screenshot that Yaroslav Bilko posted in his second email to the list on Friday.
> I'm not sure where that screenshot came from. I hope we're not so inured to these emails about Kyiv-not-Kiev that we cannot stop to read each one and look at the new points that are raised).

It's all part of the Ukrainian government's attempts to correct how English 
language sources spell Ukrainian names online:

	https://mfa.gov.ua/en/correctua

although other languages appear free to continue using their own conventions.

The relevant screenshot appears to be from some random web site(s) which scraped 
a bunch of country info including the tzids, possibly from some edition of 
something like the CIA World Factbook or similar public wiki source.
Wikipedia still posts the tzids in:

	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones

Wikipedia's own recent sources still show significant English language 
authorities current online references retain Kiev, along with other spellings 
used in technical forums, and historical alternatives, mentioning Kyiv as a 
neologism conceived in 2018, while Kiev has been used since 1804.

Sites claims that they can not change the info as it is derived from the tzid is 
probably based on their never bothering to update anything on the site until 
their ad hits go down enough to make an update the more profitable approach.
Unfortunately we have all probably worked at places where we have seen tickets 
containing or heard support staff on calls making these excuses to clients.
As it appears to be an English language site, they probably don't get many hits 
from Ukraine, except trolls searching for Kiev, so don't care about Ukrainian 
opinions.

FYI CBC changed in 1999 as that was the CP agency usage, changed back to Kiev in 
2004, changed again in 2011:

	https://www.cbc.ca/news2/indepth/words/kiev-or-kyiv.html

[there are a number of articles under the URL basename and the index in:
	https://www.cbc.ca/news2/indepth/words/quick/queries_index.html
covering contentious usages].

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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