In message: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Rob Seaman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
: On Jan 31, 2007, at 8:52 PM, M. Warner Losh wrote:
:
: > and 13 times when a leap second could have been inserted, but wasn't
: > :-)
:
: Make that 1 out of 84 opportunities by the standard as written.
Well, bulletin C says:
Leap seconds can be introduced in UTC at the end of the months of December
or June, depending on the evolution of UT1-TAI. Bulletin C is mailed every
six months, either to announce a time step in UTC, or to confirm that there
will be no time step at the next possible date.
which is what I based my statement on. The standard says that June
and December are primary, and March and October are secondary times
for a leap second. Much of the gear in the field handles Jun/Dec OK.
Some handles Mar/Oct. But much of it won't handle Mar/Oct or other
months. ntpd handles only June/December. This whole monthly thing,
while technically allowed in the UTC standard, as a practical matter
won't happen for a long, long time. Even when the quadratic nature of
leapseconds causes their frequency to be more often, I suspect a
different mechanism will need to be in place.
Warner
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