[tz] proposal for new tzdb versions

[Tom Lane]

Paul Eggert via tz <tz at iana.org> writes:
> In light of the previous discussions and the fact that we need a new 
> release very soon, I propose the following:

> * We release 2021b pretty much as-is (with the usual release 
> administrivia such as updating NEWS).

> * We also generate a separate 2021a1 version, which is like 2021a except 
> with the Samoa change that is prompting 2021b. This version recognizes 
> the concerns about the number of changes to pre-1970 timestamps in 
> 2021b. I'll do this by publishing a patch to 2021a, along with a patched 
> tarball, on my website at UCLA.

"2021a1" is what a number of people would likely have done unofficially,
so making it at least partially official would be better than no action
at all.  However, it still seems to me that this course of action is
prejudging the eventual outcome.  tzdb distributors who have not been
paying close attention will almost certainly ship 2021b, and then we
will have exactly the data instability that some of us hoped to avoid,
and basically no way to correct that without creating even more
instability.

In short: this is better than shipping 2021b only, but not by much,
because it utterly fails to account for the concerns I have.

			regards, tom lane