[tz] Introduce Etc/UTC+x timezones?

Doug Ewell doug at ewellic.org
Fri Apr 21 20:22:51 UTC 2023


Dave Cantor wrote:

> When the internet was young and I first saw the use of negative
> numbers for western offsets, I was sure it was a mistake.  I still
> think so.

Whether one is accustomed over time to seeing offsets west of UTC as positive or negative numbers, or whether the US Army or another organization uses one convention or the other, or whether C or another programming language uses one or the other, or whether one personally prefers the arithmetic relationship (UTC time *minus* five hours does equal standard time in New York), isn’t the question.

The question is whether a new set of 26 identifiers should be created in the tz database which look like aliases for the existing “Etc/GMT±n” identifiers, but which in fact have the opposite meaning.

I have to agree with Paul Eggert that this would add nothing but confusion.

--
Doug Ewell, CC, ALB | Lakewood, CO, US | ewellic.org



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