[LEAPSECS] Google, Amazon, now Microsoft

[Rob Seaman]

On May 29, 2015, at 10:52 PM, Poul-Henning Kamp <phk at phk.freebsd.dk> wrote:

> In message <11BA4A073E104FD29BD9DB1892B7C60F at pc52>, "Tom Van Baak" writes:
> 
>> And now for something completely different...
>> 
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/29/windows_azure_second_out_of_sync/
> 
> The opererative detail is this:
> 
> 	"Microsoft has determined that clocks on tens of thousands
> 	of servers globally running Azure should switch to the leap
> 	second at midnight in the time zone where they are based."
> 
> As far as I know, it is not like Microsoft has any choice, "local
> midnight" is the only time their software makes it possible for
> them to make sure that all servers jump at the same time.

Perhaps one should point out that local midnight is pretty much the worst possible time for astronomers to accommodate such a change?

“Only XYZ their software makes it possible” is not an engineering requirement.

Rob