Timothy Murphy <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote: > >> This is why one really wants to run the pc in UTC. > > I've never really understood this question asked during installation: > "Does your computer use UTC" (or something like that). > How does one determine the answer? That question could be worded much better. It is really asking you if you *want* to use UTC. Unix, BSD and, I believe, Linux has traditionally always used UTC internally and then as part of the display code adding in the timezone and DST offsets. Other operating systems of the time like DEC VMS and Microsoft DOS used local time at their lowest levels. This always caused problems for the code when traveling across timezones or when rebooting during the hour of DST transitions. Elaborate (and poorly performing) hacks were constructed to compensate for double DST transitions. These hacks of course can't compensate for two non-cooperatin OS's both trying to be helpful and changing the time. That case just can't be fixed. The only choice is to use the traditional and simpler constant UTC in the clock chip and let the OS's that are smart enough do all timezone and DST adjustments during display. (And for completeness linux does keep the kernels time in UTC no matter what the checks for that box. The problem is that the kernel has to apply a reverse timezone/DST shift whenever it reads the clock chip and it has to step the time in the clock chips whenever the DST transitions occur.) -wolfgang -- Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/
