[LEAPSECS] Cost: getting rid of GMT & discontinuing leap seconds

Poul-Henning Kamp phk at phk.freebsd.dk
Mon Oct 25 03:26:53 EDT 2010


In message <FB47749D-5340-44E5-95EA-0BCD6496A0D4 at noao.edu>, Rob Seaman writes:

>Poul-Henning Kamp wrote:

>

>> Why did astronomers use UTC as timescale in their systems, where UT1 should have been used?



>Astronomers use both UTC and the general notion of UT. Sometimes

>they use UT1. We use numerous other timescales that aren't based

>on mean solar time, too.


That doesn't answer my question: You astronomers knew (and
complained!) that UTC was unscientific when leap seconds were
introduced, why then did you start to use it ?

And having done so, why do you complain that the rest of the world does too ?


>The heart of my argument remains that civil timekeeping is mean

>solar time. Astronomers are just caught in the crossfire.


And in this you are just plain wrong, as demonstrated by facts on
the ground: A lot less than 1% of the planets population use a
timescale which are within a minute of mean solar time.

Civil Timekeeping is whatever time the politicians decide.

--
Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20
phk at FreeBSD.ORG | TCP/IP since RFC 956
FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe
Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.


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