[LEAPSECS] tzdist, handling leap seconds via timezones

[Steve Allen]

The traditional way in which time zone information has been
transported to client machines has been the IANA tzdata/tzcode
distribution.  For Unix systems this usually relies on the patch or
update mechanisms for operating systems.  Microsoft produces its own
version of that information, and Apple relies on a third party
distribution which repackages the tzdata.

The IETF Time Zone Data Distribution Service is moving toward closure
on its tzdist draft.  The mechanism will provide a way to transport
time zone information to clients via network protocols that can
request only the bits relevant to a particular client device.

The tzdata/tzcode have long had a set of "right" zones which can be
used on systems which actually do count the leap seconds.  Because the
new tzdist mechanism is rooted in the tzdata ideas it is also capable
of transmitting the leap second information as if it were a time zone.

Last week I submitted a few examples of how that could work

http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/tzdist/current/msg01215.html

--
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