[LEAPSECS] h2g2

[Michael Sokolov]

p at 2038bug.com wrote:


> > Nobody cares here that solar time and civil time

> > are 43 minutes off. 

>

> *I* care 


I do too!


> but I'm not important - I'm just one person 


There are TWO of us now!


> many people might care and many people are not getting to make

> the decision because the decision is being made for them. 


That is why I am making preparations for generating my own synthetic
time scale that is steered to serve a realization of MST, contingency
plans for the day when we may no longer be able to depend on Daniel
Gambis to do it for us.

I really liked your earlier idea of setting up an NTP server that would
serve a smooth, variable-rate timescale like UT1 or UTS or UTC-SLS, and
have an associated pledge to continue serving this form of Earth-following
time regardless of what the ITU does to UTC.  I am thinking along very
similar lines myself.


> further, it's not a decision we can *ever* go back on once it is

> made because reversing back to solar to time would be politically

> far too difficult to get collaboration on. 


But as long as you and I continue to operate our own law-defiant NTP
servers which serve our realization of Earth time instead of the s**t
that ITU peddles, those nature-loving people who wish to live their
personal lives on mean solar time can simply choose to point their own
ntpd instances at our servers instead of those following the ITU -
problem solved.

Furthermore, there are still quite a few countries left on Earth whose
system of rulership is very non-Western.  Perhaps we can convince Raul
Castro or Hugo Chavez to use MST instead of ITU time as the basis of
legal time in Cuba or Venezuela, and to take their time reference from
our "rebel" NTP servers?  Or perhaps we can team with the folks in the
Arab world who are working on the Mecca Time idea?

I would be very willing to work with *anyone* who is in favor of
Earth-anchored time.


> that some NASA/ITU/whoever people find leap seconds "inconvenient"

> for programmers is NOT sufficient reason to ever have started

> pursuing this agenda. 


Total agreement!

MS