[tz] Dropping coordinates from zone1970.tab?

[Paul Eggert]

On 9/30/21 12:51 AM, Aurelien Jarno via tz wrote:

> The point is not about choosing a timezone from a location, but rather
> being able to show the cities linked to the timezones on a map so that
> end users can pickup their timezone visually.

Sure, but that's straightforward to do visually regardless of timezone 
shape, even if the timezone is non-contiguous. A user points to a spot 
on the map, and the system picks the timezone containing that location 
(it can highlight the whole timezone region as the user points to a 
city, as visual feedback). A user who points to the South Pole should 
get Pacific/Auckland or equivalent even though Auckland is 6,000 km 
away. Again, this is not a new issue, as the South Pole has been merged 
with Pacific/Auckland for many years in tzdb.

> Note that all the information for providing nice ways to select a
> timezone for end-users is available in zone.tab

Not all info, surely. Timezone boundaries are not there. Nor is 
internationalization. A lot of stuff is missing.

> but that file is
> currently deprecated in favor of zone1970.tab. I guess it will just get
> removed when the process of merging timezone is finished.

That file has been deprecated for ages as its function is unclear, and 
it seems to be used differently by different downstream users. However, 
I was not planning to remove it even after merges are done, given that 
it's still being used.