[LEAPSECS] Crunching Bulletin B numbers (POSIX time)

Ian Batten igb at batten.eu.org
Sun Feb 20 20:28:35 EST 2011



>

>

> It is not only about being soooo isolated, but also about not being

> able to download the leap second table for any reason whatsoever.

>

> The conversion from 1298159105 to and from "2011-02-19 23:45:05" on

> Posix is currently not inclusive of leap seconds: you just do division

> by 86400.

>

> A proper api includes leap seconds. hence the conversion depends on

> what's in your leap second table. "2011-02-19 23:45:05" is really

> 1298159129 in the Olson library.

>

> The unix world is replete with software that converts both to and

> from ascii timestamps.


I see that the UK is now cranking up for CET: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12517762

Given that most ASCII timestamps are in "local" time, presumably leap seconds are no more evil than changes in timezone: both will throw off the calculations of these hypothetical isolated machines.

ian


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