On Thu 2003-01-30T22:05:51 +0000, Markus Kuhn hath writ:
> > But the question arises as to why the spec
> > can't easily be changed to indicate that it is per TAI day.
>
> As long as UTC is as it is currently, you don't want to do this:
But I think that the further answer is this:
Should it be decided that civil time shall track TAI, there will be no
technical problem (and indeed, possibly great rejoicing) to change the
specification.
For the purposes of power grids:
The current forms of UTC and TAI are both acceptable.
Ongoing changes in the length of a second are not acceptable.
Fractional leap seconds are not acceptable.
Here I perceive pieces of a checklist of civil time strategies vs.
technologies affected by them. This could be valuable.
> Plus remember the remarks above that UTC was for a long time far more
> easily available than TAI in Europe.
I believe that is true almost everywhere, and is a root of the problem
at hand.
--
Steve Allen UCO/Lick Observatory Santa Cruz, CA 95064
sla_at_ucolick.org Voice: +1 831 459 3046 http://www.ucolick.org/~sla
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Received on Thu Jan 30 2003 - 14:51:11 PST