On 01/31/2011 15:55, Stephen Colebourne wrote:
By comparison, leap seconds add a new time representation 23:59:60 which exists in no other way. Its the creation of the new time that is problematic.
Earlier threads have called this the 'non-uniform-radix' problem. It has been argued that there are no discontinuities in UTC, with the 59:60 notation offered as proof. However, this moves UTC from a uniform radix that everybody is used to dealing with with to one with a non-uniform-radix. This table-driven non-uniformity might or might not technically be a discontinuity, but certainly is a pain in the back side.
It is also a central problem of time_t: how do you map this non-uniform-radix notation onto a uniform count that must always satisfy properties that explicitly mandate a uniform-radix.
The timezone code in Unix does deal with this by increasing the UTC-TAI offset so you could, in theory, tell the same way to tell with DST transitions. I tend to agree with you thought that it might be pounding screws with a hammer....
Warner _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
