[LEAPSECS] php breaks if UTC has no leap seconds?

Warner Losh imp at bsdimp.com
Fri Dec 10 10:48:08 EST 2010


On 12/09/2010 17:35, Rob Seaman wrote:

> On Dec 9, 2010, at 3:53 PM, Steve Allen wrote:

>

>> This is the first example I've come across where a widely used API will break if UTC does not continue to have leap seconds.

> Has anyone even considered a Y2K style inventory?

>

> Absence of evidence is not...oh, what's the point?

Keep in mind that while a code change would required to fetch DUT1 from
the internet or other source, the API could continue to function, but
with an increased uncertainty as the date is farther into the future.
If this is an important number to know, I'm sure someone will publish a
model that tries to approximate dUT1 and gives an uncertainty range that
presumably expands the further into the future we go.

You're correct about the question: How many of these interfaces are
there, and what is the implication for increasing the error in the
present calculation from 1s? For php, I doubt anybody would care for
the cases likely to be in error... For other things, likely they care more.

Warner


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