On Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 2:23 PM, Stefan Jafs <[email protected]> wrote: >> (They originate from different authorities, and get different >> adjustments for extremely high precision time. It usually doesn't >> matter for practical purposes, but as long as we're being pedantic we >> might as well get it right.) > > And whats the difference? Except one ( GMT) is old and UTC is new? As far as > I know UTC is the successor to GMT.
As far as I know, GMT still exists. I would expect it to be defined by whatever authority in the UK does that sort of thing, but I don't know. These days, in casual language, when most people say "GMT", what they are referring to is (in technical language) really UTC, which is defined by the BIPM -- the same folks who define the meter, kilogram, and so on. As far as the difference goes, as I said, the two get different adjustments for extremely high precision time. We're talking sub-second scale, for the most part. Part of it might just be administrative lag; I don't know. But GMT and UTC do not have to be identical. Precise global timekeeping is surprisingly complicated. If you really want to know, start reading here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Atomic_Time -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
