On Jul 9, 2012, at 7:41 AM, Rob Seaman wrote: > On Jul 9, 2012, at 5:24 AM, Gerard Ashton wrote: > >> I just read an explanation of what went wrong with some Linux systems: > > Yes, that and the Landslide analysis are very good. I also found PHK's > comments on leapsecs to be illuminating from the FreeBSD perspective. > >> It would be tempting to prepare for the next leap second by running a fake >> leap second into a test system that is sitting in a lab doing nothing but >> keep time. But a realistic test requires that the system under test be >> running a load as similar as possible to production systems. > > Whatever else is true, it's clear that insufficient testing occurred. As Y2K > lead for my group I kept a system set ahead to a date in the 2000's for a > couple of years beforehand. Plus 11 years I think it was, since the > 2010/2011 New Year's Eve resembled the Millennium (day of the week, preceding > year not a leap year). This permitted innumerable tests in advance. > > The corresponding leap second tests are different, but the need to test edge > cases is similar. Here it doesn't look like a serious attempt was made even > to test the basic functioning (not on loaded systems certainly). > > It is quite likely that another leap second will occur before 2015; it is a > near certainty there will be multiple such before 202N when any change would > take effect. Putting aside our diverse policy positions, members of this > mailing list have worked for many years to raise the profile of UTC issues. > Perhaps this will be easier now, and we should be able to identify common > cause in encouraging such testing, and in general in educating various > communities about timekeeping issues.
The biggest problem with leap seconds is the attitude "Well, it is only a second, I don't have to worry about getting it right." Turns out, getting them wrong can have worse effects than things being off by a second. Summarizes a key point I've been making for years... Leap seconds are hard, so no body bothers to get them right... I get shot as the messenger, when really the problem is much more deeply engrained in the computer community. Warner _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
