Indeed. The Earth's rotational period does vary slightly (effect of
earthquakes notwithstanding). One reason time is hard to deal with
sensibly is our insistence on synchronising it to the mean solar day.
'Zactly! This time issue is easy to solve. ALL computers should be on UTC. All
transactions should be stored in UTC.
Pilots have done it this way for years. When you get a weather forecast the times on it are stated in Zulu. (UTC). Then it doesnt'
matter if you are taking off in Perth and flying to Sydney, or Darwin or if you are flying at the time Daylight savings changes
over, Or indeed if you are leaving a country / state where daylight savings is changing and going to one that doesn't (e.g
travelling from NSW into QLD at 15:30 UTC 3rd April). The time that the forecast was issued and the time period for which it is
valid are unambiguous.
Local time is simply a presentation layer issue.
"What time is it?" It's 15:30 Zulu. It's up to the presentation layer to then ask the user what timezone they are in (or would
like to see the value presented in) and to then convert the UTC value to the required timezone.
The fact that a Major National bank of a nation that spans a number of time zones, should store it's transactions in NSW local
time zone is a indictment of poor design. Switching to using Linux wouldn't solve this problem, it's a symptom of poor system design.
Pete
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