On 04/12/2023 20:36, Greg Wooledge wrote:
On Mon, Dec 04, 2023 at 03:19:33PM -0500, gene heskett wrote:On 12/4/23 07:17, Greg Wooledge wrote:ls -hal /etc/localtimeAha! You found it, but how do I change it? root@mkspi:/etc# cat timezone America/New_York root@mkspi:/etc# ls -hal /etc/localtime lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Jul 25 2022 /etc/localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_AngelesIt's just a symbolic link. It looks like you have the "modern" style of zone names, so: ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtimeuse mc to edit the /etc/localtime link? Surely there is better way...I don't know how mc works. I've never used it. If that can change the target of a symlink, similar to running "ln -sf", then you may use it.The string as the last few bytes of posixrules looks correct at EST5EDT, and I've got a headache. there are links to links to links in that midden heap.I classify time zone names into three historic eras. In the oldest era, you have zone names like EST5EDT which are composed of three pieces. The first piece, EST, is the zone's name when the clock is "normal" (not daylight saving or summer time). The second piece, 5, is the number of hours behind GMT the clock is (normally). The third piece, EDT, is the zone's name when daylight saving time is in effect. In the second era, zone names look like "US/Eastern". The piece on the right hand side is a component of the piece on the left. I'm uncertain whether the pieces on the left are always country codes, or if there's some other arrangement. In the modern era, zone names look like "America/Chicago". The piece on the left is a continent (or other large geographic region, e.g. "Pacific"), and the piece on the right is a major city, preferably *the* major city, which exemplifies the specific time zone in question. For you and me, the current era time zone name is "America/New_York". This is how the Debian installer sets the localtime symlink, and is what we should be using if we have to set it ourselves. I personally find "US/Eastern" the easiest to grasp, and I'm sad that this pattern fell out of fashion, for whatever reason. Whenever I tell people on the Internet (who may not be Linux users) what time zone I'm in, I always go with "US/Eastern". It's just so *clear*.
According to https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/tz/1993-October/009233.html, it was Paul Eggert who proposed this new system. I suspect the subtlety between the two systems is: Do you want to specify the timezone, or do you want the database to track the timezones for you? Or, to put it another way, do you want to specify the time offset, do you want to specify the (current) timezone, or do you want the database to track it for you?
Most people know what timezone they're currently in, but the more likely know what their nearest city is. Cities rarely change, but timezones do. Take the example of Triana in Paul Eggert's original email. The city never moved, but the timezone it was it changed dozens of times. Its a lot easier for someone to configure Europe/Tirana than to have to keep changing timezones.
If you happen to live somewhere where the timezone has been stable, consider yourself privileged.
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