On 2026-07-29 02:26, Paul Eggert via tz wrote:
On 2026-07-28 19:13, Lord Buddha wrote:
While advocating for a year's notice or any change, can I advocate that any
release of timedata is also a year in advance of that change.
Yes. Downstream will need a lot of time for this change, if it happens. If
Congress gives us a year's notice we should be able to return the favor downstream.
The last time the US changed its rules, the change became law on August 8, 2005,
we got a heads-up email that day from Jonathan Lennox[1], Arthur circulated
draft changes the next day[2], and after some discussion (partly involving a
malfunctioning email server) release 2005l was published August 22[3], more than
eighteen months before the effective date of the change on in March 2007. Things
went reasonably smoothly in 2007.
The currently-proposed changes will be considerably harder to implement than the
2007 changes so it won't go as smoothly. Still, I hope that if the bill becomes
law we can push out a new TZDB release just as quickly as we did on August 2005,
and maybe even more so; part of the idea of the speculative patch was to
accelerate that process, if it happens.
Like 2005, it's likely we would need multiple TZDB releases, as other
jurisdictions like Canada and Mexico decide whether and when to follow the US's
lead. Plus, the first release embodying the timekeeping change will likely
contain typos not discovered until people try it out, just as release 2005l had
typos re time in Indiana[4].
Given that western Canadian politicians have already passed time acts asserting
provincial and territorial sovereignty and independence, regardless of airline,
travel, and industry opposition, and the wavering of eastern and US politicians.
The politicians want to avoid being seen as weak in their next elections, so are
unlikely to change in the near term, regardless of adjacent jurisdictions, who
may wait to see what others, as yet undecided, do, at the risk of them appearing
indecisive and weak, which may be part of the point of making earlier changes.
--
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada
La perfection est atteinte Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retrancher but when there is no more to cut
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
