Markus Kuhn said:
>> A resolution was proposed to redefine UTC by replacing leap seconds by leap
>> hours, effective at a specific date which I believe was something like 2020.

[...]
> If this proposal gets accepted, then someone will have to shoulder the
> burden and take responsibility for a gigantic disruption in the
> global^Wsolar IT infrastructure sometimes around 2600. I believe, the
> worry about Y2K was nothing in comparison to the troubles caused by a
> UTC leap hour. We certainly couldn't insert a leap hour into UTC today.
>
> In my eyes, a UTC leap hour is an unrealistic phantasy.
[...]

I may be wrong here, but I thought the "leap hour" idea did *not* insert a
discontinuity into UTC. Rather, in 2600 (or whenever it is), all civil
administrations would move their <local>-UTC offset forward by one hour,
in many cases by failing to implement the summer-to-winter step back.

Thus in the UK and the US eastern seaboard, the civil time would go:

                          UK               US east
    Summer 2599:       UTC + 0100        UTC - 0400
    Winter 2599/2600:  UTC + 0000        UTC - 0500
    Summer 2600:       UTC + 0100        UTC - 0400
    Winter 2600/2601:  UTC + 0100        UTC - 0400
    Summer 2601:       UTC + 0200        UTC - 0300
    Winter 2601/2602:  UTC + 0200        UTC - 0400

That *is* practical to implement, though coordination might be harder. On
the other hand, adminstrative areas that are near the edge of a zone now
could move earlier if they wanted. The world is used to time zones, after
all.

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