[tz] Did Greenland abolish daylight saving from 2024 on?

Brian Inglis Brian.Inglis at Shaw.ca
Sat Nov 18 06:23:54 UTC 2023


On 2023-11-17 20:44, Paul Eggert via tz wrote:
> On 2023-11-17 15:18, Guy Harris wrote:
> 
>> It's not "right" in the sense of being, apparently, what POSIX intends, but 
>> it's definitely "right" as in meaning
> 
> Sorry, I'm lost, as I don't rightly know what you meant "'right'" here, and I 
> don't know what you think POSIX intends.
> 
> 
>> it is not clear to me from the current spec.
> 
> I've tried to explain but apparently have failed so far. If you file a bug 
> report with the Austin Group please let me know its coordinates; I can try to 
> clarify there. I'm confident of the thrust of the interpretation I gave - though 
> I guess I shouldn't be so confident in the quality of my explanation so far....
> 
> 
>>> Most sources that go to that level of precision can plausibly be called the 
>>> speech of time or computer nerds (and this includes the Wikipedia page you 
>>> just edited :-).
>>
>> What level of precision is that?  The level of precision in which Ireland is 
>> on "Daylight Saving Time" during the winter?
> 
> Yes, that sort of thing. Hardly anybody cares about this stuff except time nerds.
> 
> 
>> Well, in the context of one of those places.  What about Ireland?
> 
> Ireland too. Here's an example:
> 
> https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057906815/eu-to-recommend-abolishing-dst/p5
> 
> It says, "Technically speaking, Irish Standard Time is UTC+1, we are on daylight 
> saving time when the clock goes back.... Both the UK and European countries move 
> to a +1 offset for summer time. Ireland technically moves to a -1 offset from 
> UTC+1 for winter time. So in practical terms were on the same time as the UK due 
> to the opposite offset."
> 
> 
> There are examples the other way, too. More common, I think, is that people in 
> Ireland say "summer time" and "winter time" instead of "standard time" and 
> "daylight saving time", as this happily avoids any confusion about which of 
> Greenwich Mean Time and Irish Standard Time is standard time, and which is 
> daylight saving time.

As the second Irish article says:

'The time change in winter, commonly referred to as “Daylight Saving Time” (DST) 
or “Standard Time,”'

so they mean the same in normal language in that zone, and possibly in other 
zones in similar situations.

That demonstrates why DST is now inadequate as a technical term and ALT would be 
better, without twisting the meaning of DST from what it means in normal 
language, requiring a lot of explanation which few will read and fewer understand.
We could also add Daylight Loan Time to the glossary for more "clarity" ;^>
Better to use summer/winter, which is a more global usage whereas DST is mainly 
US/North American, and works regardless of hemisphere, as time changes are 
useless without some seasonal variations in daylight hours.

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis              Calgary, Alberta, Canada

La perfection est atteinte                   Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter  not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer     but when there is no more to cut
                                 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



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