Re: Second-granular timezone offset format not documented

From: Thomas Munro <thomas(dot)munro(at)gmail(dot)com>
To: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
Cc: ysangkok(at)gmail(dot)com, Pg Docs <pgsql-docs(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org>
Subject: Re: Second-granular timezone offset format not documented
Date: 2021-07-07 23:39:46
Message-ID: CA+hUKGJNMdhK+pwxUO_COLvtePTTd1PFGNY5S=WZZ2UCjtVkQQ@mail.gmail.com
Views: Raw Message | Whole Thread | Download mbox | Resend email
Thread:
Lists: pgsql-docs

On Tue, Jul 6, 2021 at 2:04 AM Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us> wrote:
> I tried to interest them in dropping the LMT idea altogether [1].

FWIW, I agree with you. It's meaningless because those coordinates
don't seem to be the meridians historically used for local mean time
(Trafalgar Square may be the prime meridian for pigeons, but real
London time was based on its most famous observatory long before
standardisation AFAICS, and if even that "zero case" is wrong, I guess
the rest are wrong too where there even is an answer; the year given
is also disputable). That's all fine and well given the disclaimer
that it's meaningless, but then why even have it? The LMT concept is
itself being applied proleptically (before the definition of mean
time, before the existence of the named cities, ...). I think it
would be a whole lot more useful and less surprising to make standard
time proleptic instead, or just reject undefined conversions.

In response to

Browse pgsql-docs by date

  From Date Subject
Next Message PG Doc comments form 2021-07-13 02:24:01 Manua correction
Previous Message Euler Taveira 2021-07-07 19:13:59 Re: conventions