[LEAPSECS] nails in the coffin of mean solar time

[Rob Seaman]

On Jun 14, 2007, at 2:31 PM, Greg Hennessy wrote:


>>> A notable difference between these versions and previous ones is  

>>> that the CGPM's UTC shall be interpreted by the Secretary of the  

>>> Navy as well as NIST.

>>

>> So the final determination of the policy issue (yea or nay on leap  

>> seconds) shall be whether the US military industrial complex  

>> believes there are more risks in continuing leap seconds (tested  

>> over 35 years) or in a boundless DUT1 (never tested, heretofore  

>> negligible for many applications).

>

> No, I expect that means that Ken Johnston of the US Naval  

> Observatory will make the call. Or more precisely Dennis McCarthy.


Isn't that equivalent to what I asserted?  Military == Navy &&  
Industrial == NIST.  I don't attach any valuation to this assertion -  
USNO and NIST would be derelict not to serve the interests of their  
constituencies.  I simply question whether they should be assuming a  
slam-dunk posture toward what they obviously believe those best  
interests to be.

I'm sure many of us were involved in Y2K remediation activities.  For  
instance, here is an inventory that I was responsible for compiling  
for one large system:

	http://iraf.noao.edu/projects/y2k/y2kplan.html

Do we have any evidence that DOD has performed such an inventory for  
DUT1 dependencies?  I've been considering exactly how such an  
inventory might proceed and have concluded that this is a much harder  
problem than Y2K.  You have to look for holes in the algorithms, not  
just for the presence of naive data structures.  Something needed  
that is lacking, not just something broken that requires fixing.  And  
then on the remediation side, filling those holes will involve the  
deployment of significant new interfaces and network-aware services.   
The logic of triggering a Y2K-bug is rather explicit - some counter  
overflows.  Triggering of a DUT1-bug is far more subtle.

Rob Seaman
NOAO
------

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition  
of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military- 
industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of  
misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our  
liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for  
granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the  
proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of  
defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and  
liberty may prosper together."  - D. D. Eisenhower



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