[LEAPSECS] The ends we seek

[Rob Seaman]

Tony Finch wrote:

> Daniel R. Tobias wrote:

>> Warner Losh wrote:

>> 

>>> But it just so happens that this draft changes UTC to match the

>>> POSIX definition of time_t where leap seconds don't really exist...

>> 

>> It seems to be a rather blatant example of "geek arrogance" to say

>> that, when a tech standard fails to conform to reality, the solution

>> is to redefine reality to match the standard.

> 

> Both UTC and time_t are tech standards that don't conform to reality.


Redefining UTC would debase the entire family of Universal Time terminology, including GMT.  Feel free to debate whether science conforms to reality, but some terms are indeed tied to physical facts.

The time in Geneva is just before 3 pm as I type:

	http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=87

This page and innumerable others and vast piles of documents assume that UTC is the equivalent of GMT.  Universal Time has always meant astronomical time.  But it is particularly perverse to suggest that (whatever the usage layered on top) that "Greenwich Mean Time" does not mean "mean solar time at Greenwich".

Rob