[tz] Breach of tzdb charter: Merging timezones is not within the charter

[Philip Paeps]

On 2021-06-03 09:03:15 (+0800), Stephen Colebourne via tz wrote:
> This is a formal request to revert the recent patch to merge country 
> timezones. I, and others, consider the patch to be utterly 
> unacceptable. The patch causes meaningful harm to the status of tzdb, 
> and will cause downstream projects significant pain to effectively 
> revert the changes - amounting to an effective fork of the project.

I don't consider the patch a breach of charter.  Given the clear lack of 
consensus however, I agree that the patch should be reverted.

While I believe the patch is within scope of the tzdb's stated purpose, 
we should be considerate of the many current, actual, real-world uses of 
tzdb beyond that scope.

The best way forward would be to revert this patch and to discuss 
alternative ways to achieve its intent without alienating a substantial 
fraction of tzdb consumers.  That discussion is a lot more likely to be 
productive without the (perceived) threat of a release with the 
contentious patch ending up in the wild.

Philip

-- 
Philip Paeps
Senior Reality Engineer
Alternative Enterprises