[tz] [PROPOSED] Merge timezones that are alike since 1970

[Tim Parenti]

On Sat, 22 May 2021 at 03:09, Philip Paeps via tz <tz at iana.org> wrote:

> I think the first part of this change (merging timezones with no changes
> post-1970) makes a lot of sense.  I'm less convinced about the second
> part of the change (merging timezones into Etc).  That feels like
> indirection for the sake of indirection.


I'm inclined to agree here.  In particular, the latter group (things
like America/La_Paz -> Etc/GMT+4) seems to encourage things or behaviors
which historically cause confusion, especially for novices:

   1. using fixed-offset zones for civil time with the blind expectation
   that it won't need to change
   2. the "backwards" offset signs from POSIX
   3. the outdated GMT-vs-UT(C) solecism

Arguably, helping to prevent (1) is the entire point of this project.  The
others, while less of a concern, have been continually de-emphasized enough
over the years here that I'm not sure that giving them increased prominence
is a good thing.

That said, I do broadly support the consolidation of purely geographical
zones like Europe/Monaco -> Europe/Paris (retaining historical work in
backzone).  I think, in most cases, a stricter 1970 principle can be
reasonably explained to passers-by.  Especially since we deal with
cities/communities and not borders, contiguity need not even be a
requirement — though if any of the resulting pairings are particularly
far-flung (I haven't checked thoroughly yet), a small amount of duplication
may be advisable and otherwise unavoidable.

--
Tim Parenti
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