Slashdot Mirror
Debian Refuses To Push Timezone Update For NZ DST
Jasper Bryant-Greene writes "Although a tzdata release that includes New Zealand's recent DST changes (2007f) has been out for some time, Debian are refusing to push the update from testing into the current stable distribution, codenamed Etch, on the basis that 'it's not a security bug.' This means that unless New Zealand sysadmins install the package manually, pull the package from testing, or alter the timezone to 'GMT-13' manually, all systems running Debian Etch in New Zealand currently have the incorrect time, as DST went into effect this morning. As one of the last comments in the bug report says, 'even Microsoft are not this silly.' The final comment (at this writing), from madcoder, says 'The package sits in volatile for months. Please take your troll elsewhere.'"
adoption. While it is probably not that serious of an issue it provides Linux' competitors with yet another thing to point out as a "flaw" - they can't even be bothered to make sure a computer has the correct timestamp - do you want to depend on the whims of a volunteer to ensure your computer's data is accurately time stamped? And when you press the issue you get accused of being the problem - would you accept taht from any other vendor?
Would you want to be in litigation over how a chain of events occured, only to discover your descktop had been patched in the midst of an exchange that is critical to your defenses; only to discover the email you sent / file you modified in response to an event now shows you did it before the event?
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Linux is really for command-line hackers only... setting the time zone manually... pft. what a disgrace for the IT world... :p
The last posting in the bug report nailed it. Too many politics involved with Debian. The whole "ice weasel" episode was enough warning that they've got a Bush in their White House.
Or configure NTP.
1 command, really. Not sure why they're being so stubborn.
Peace sells, but who's buying?
Silly Debian, they're not trolls, they're Hobbits!
That being said, this is stupid. Time Zones should "just work" no matter where you are. It's not volitile code, it's a line in a config file. Trust me, if one of the US states that doesn't fallow the national DST system were to change, you KNOW the update would be pushed up immediately.
This is discrimination driven by laziness (the worse kind IMHO).
Microsoft users on Automatic Updates rolled over without even knowing anything
That's the truth!
Selective quoting is fun.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
An AC with a low IQ asks:
Did you have anything to add to this discussion other than making snide remarks to cover your envy of Microsoft's better working practice, and linking to someone else's entry?
No. By selectively quoting the GP I completely changed the meaning of what he said from "M$ is teh best and did not have this problem" to "M$ users are suckers". Then I linked to someone else who shows mail threat posts saying that this is not a problem for Debian users who are subscribed to the "voletile" lists for updates. It's funny, you are supposed to laugh.
No, I don't have any envy of M$'s practice and you could not pay me to run their shit for anything where time was important. Windows does not understand GMT and use local time, which forces all applications to compute GMT and that forces errors. Their time and date functions are so rudimentary that vendors have to make their own. M$ users had a huge pain in the ass when the US decided to change daylight savings time, older versions were ignored and never recovered. Y2K was a major issue for their machines. Applications, such as Excel have functions that return wrong and contradictory answers. The list of M$ time and date cockups so long and so extensive that I have my doubts they did anything right in New Zealand. There's more than cost reasons that GPS device makers have turned to GNU/Linux.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.