Re: DST rules change imminent?

Dr John Stockton said the following on 7/31/2005 10:36 AM:

> It looks as if the USA may be changing its Summer Time (DST) Rules,
> perhaps with immediate effect.

It's possible, depending on what Congress decides to do with the law.

> Browsers use the rules selected in the OS, and I predict that in many
> cases the rules will not have been updated.

That depends on the OS and how updated it is.

> Since time servers send GMT/UTC, the actual civil time of the computer
> may be wrong; or, if the user corrects it manually the results of UTC
> functions may be wrong.

And how is that different than any potential problem now?

> Scripts running in general locations and showing the US date/time will
> need changing, or at least will need new parameters.

Again, how is that any different than any possible problems now? If the
computers clock is wrong, it's wrong and the programmer can't possibly
determine why it's wrong so it can't be compensated for.

> And I know of one news server in the USA that for years was mis-operated
> in respect of DST, behaving as if its GMT was being changed rather than
> its offset.

Then that was a result of the server being improperly configured, not a
DST problem.

> ISTM worth considering and preparing for the possible errors that may
> appear on and after Sunday 2005 October 30.

Those same problems are there now, so there's nothing new to consider.

-- 
Randy
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