[LEAPSECS] Windows Server 2019

[Martin Burnicki]

Nero Imhard wrote:
> Martin Burnicki schreef op 2018-07-20 12:52:
> 
>> Nero Imhard wrote:
>>> If that translates to "don't smear ntp" I could not agree more.
>>> Smearing is catering to those who won't clean up their act,
>>> causing trouble for those who try to do the right thing.
>>
>> Please don't blame ntpd for smearing leap seconds.
>  
> I don't. ntpd would be the victim here.

;-)
  
>> Leap second smearing by an NTP server is just an optional way to avoid
>> these problems because there's no better way to get around it.
>  
> Leap second smearing by an NTP server effectively means that it uses
> a different time. Without a way to indicate, within the protocol,
> what time a server uses (and there isn't because UTC is implicit) this
> seems a really bad idea.

Basically I agree with you, but ...

> On another level, I regard it as some sort of "technical betrayal"
> which erodes trust in protocols and standards, rendering them less
> useful than they could be.

Yes, the NTP protocol has been designed to work with UTC time stamps.

I know there are also folks who let their own NTP server transmit pure
TAI or raw GPS time instead of UTC, since some devices on their network
need this.

Also, even the NIST operates an NTP server that provides UT1 rather than
UTC.

So for specific cases, in a closed environment, it's OK IMO.
  
> Isolate your workarounds and don't let them pollute your environment. 

Especially, there shouldn't be any public/pool servers that smear leap
seconds.

If you are administrator for a huge company network you are eventually
very happy if you can just let the company's NTP server smear a leap
second, and none of the clients or applications encounter any problem.

If you don't want it, don't use it. ;-)

The problem is if there are folks that don't know (exactly) what they
are doing, e.g. use as reference one of Google's public servers that are
known to smear leap seconds.

Martin
-- 
Martin Burnicki

Senior Software Engineer

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