Re: nist time package
Gopal Narayanan <gopal@fcrao1.phast.umass.edu> writes:
> I was looking for some software to adjust the system time clock to a
> standard like NIST. I realize that there is the xtnp3 package to
> synchronize time. I find the ntp protocol an heavyweight in terms of
> setting system time. I would like to see an alternative small package
> for setting time.
>
> In the old slackware days, I used to use a package which is still
> available on sunsite. This package called nist (appropriately) is for
> machines that are connected to the internet. It is a rather small, but
> handy package that could be used to set your time by using telnet on
> port 13 to the nist site. Any reasons not to use nist? If there is
> interest in a small and handy package like nist, I'd be willing to
> package it.
Well, it seems a bit like overkill. There's already netdate in the
netstd package, which sets the time by a telnet/udp query to port
37. (which is much easier to parse than the results of port 13) Much
lighter-weight than the ntp protocol, and at least as accurate as the
idea of telnetting to port 13.
Perhaps a simple addition to the netstd documentation saying what
machine at nist to query might be in order, (or perhaps a two line
shell script in the /usr/doc/netstd directory) but really I don't see
the need to create a whole new package.
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