Re: [Tzdist] Existing and new data ...

[Lester Caine <[e-mail]>]

On 10/12/14 17:58, Cyrus Daboo wrote:
> I have not come across a single client to date that will detect a change
> to time zone data and warn users about possible shifts to meeting times
> as a result of that. They simply can't figure that out as the underlying
> TZ data typically is coming from the OS and there is no version
> information readily available.

This is perhaps the point. The current mechanism is so badly broken we
can't even establish just where the source TZ material came from. THAT
is why I started digging since not only was historic material corrupted
due to the lack of tagging as to how it was created, but also current
data was being corrupted by using essentially broken versions of TZ data.

We need to CREATE a process that can be relied on to provide TZ data to
go with ANYTHING we publish from day one, and that requires a version.
That same version then allows client applications ... if they can be
bothered .. to check the integrity of what they are displaying. Perhaps
only certain clients will use the process, but a reliable process IS
necessary. This then simply expands over time to provide reliable
reference material for historic archives, and that may well be todays
calendars of events which while one might expect the data to be the same
in many years time, simply being able to access a perfectly matched
extract for the TZid and period of the material may be important if the
tzdist publisher is 'only' producing a truncated view for the then
current period.

My own rude awakening to this was when all the scheduled council
meetings moved an hour on the diary when the DST rolled over because the
person who had 'improved' the calendar code at that time did not even
understand what DST was :( Just because software gets it wrong is not a
reason for continuing to live with the problem?

-- 
Lester Caine - G8HFL
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