Re: [LEAPSECS] What problems do leap seconds *really* create?

From: John Cowan <jcowan_at_REUTERSHEALTH.COM>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 15:05:59 -0500 (EST)

Steve Allen scripsit:

> > > Who needs to know about a leap second more than half a year in advance
> > > but has no access to a time signal broadcasting service (the better ones
> > > of which all carry leap second announcement information today)?
> >
> > Any isolated system that it isn't practical to upgrade every six months.
>
> Please explain why this requirement is not confounded every time your
> legislature decides to mess with the start and stop of summer time
> (with a year's notice because of the olympics, or with a week's notice
> because the war effort is going badly, or whatever).

I was a little too clipped. If you know all the leap seconds, you can
convert a Unix-style timestamp to UTC reliably; if you further know all
the timezone changes, you can convert UTC to LCT reliably.

--
A rabbi whose congregation doesn't want         John Cowan
to drive him out of town isn't a rabbi,         http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
and a rabbi who lets them do it                 jcowan_at_reutershealth.com
isn't a man.    --Jewish saying                 http://www.reutershealth.com
Received on Wed Jan 29 2003 - 12:06:16 PST

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