[LEAPSECS] inaugural effects of abandoning leaps

[Warner Losh]

On Jan 21, 2013, at 12:01 PM, Poul-Henning Kamp wrote:


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> In message <20130121172812.GA27180 at ucolick.org>, Steve Allen writes:

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>> So without even considering the effects on insurance policies and

>> movie theaters, the ITU-R has recognized that abandoning leap seconds

>> has the effect of making their own regulations self-inconsistent.

> 

> Grasping at straws, are we ?


It all depends on what you mean by the time. This can't be the current mean solar time, but has to be UTC time, and if it is UTC time, there's no ambiguity. If it is the current mean solar time, then that ambiguity exists today without changes to leap seconds. But no sane person would say that one should get the UTC date wrong because the UTC to GMT offset is a few hundred milliseconds during that gap.

Warner