'Leap Seconds' May Be Eliminated From UTC

angry tapir writes "Sparking a fresh round of debate over an ongoing issue in time-keeping circles, the International Telecommunications Union is considering eliminating leap seconds from the time scale used by most computer systems, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Since their introduction in 1971, leap seconds have proved problematic for at least a few software programs. The leap second added on to the end of 2008, for instance, caused Oracle cluster software to reboot unexpectedly in some cases."

Comments

Poor solution

[LostMyBeaver]

The proper solution is to make programmers aware of leap seconds. There are 86400 seconds in a normal day, however there is an additional second added once or twice a year to adjust for solar time.

Wikipedia documents it quite well and programmers in modern times should be heading to wikipedia almost constantly anyway. The real problem occurs when the date/time is given in seconds since an "event" such as Jan 1, 1970. Most programmers don't know about leap seconds and I must admit, I don't generally bother calculating for them. But if it were necessary, it would be relatively trivial to do so.

We shouldn't remove fixes to the clock just because programmers are undereducated. I'm quite convinced that just posting this on Slashdot will raise awareness across a high percentage of the programming world.

I also always wondered why undergraduate studies for computer science didn't make time a relevant issue. It seems as if it's one of the more complex topics and yet, we don't pay any attention to it. Last formal education I had on time (not talking about physic related, but calendar) was in primary school. There are so many time systems out there that we should pay more attention to educating programmers on it.

Re:Poor solution

[Thorsett]

Why adjust for solar time?

We adjust for solar time because UTC is an astronomical timescale, not a "count of seconds since a specific time." If "computer people" want a timescale that ignores leap seconds, they can use an atomic timescale like TAI (or GPS time, which is a constant offset from TAI). But choosing to standardize the internet on UTC and then complaining it is too hard to do the programming right is a little like buying a house next door to a turkey farm and complaining about the smell.

Ok...

[Chyeld]

Isn't this like legislating that PI is 3.14 because some people have problems with the idea of irrational numbers? If programs have issues with leap seconds, it sounds like programs weren't written properly, not that the spec needs to be rewritten to accommodate this flaw. Would these same people have demanded that it be 1999 again to avoid all the costs of the Y2K fixes?

Let's see if I've got this right

[Joce640k]

We have to make every clock in the world inaccurate because Oracle's software is crap...?

Re:Let's see if I've got this right

[Kjella]

Daylight Savings has had numerous studies showing reduced electricity consumption.

Yes, the question is more if there's more or less hassle to have summer and winter opening hours than to change "time" itself.

Re:Let's see if I've got this right

[AltairDusk]

Flight industry and safety equipment also goes through very stringent testing. If the capability to handle leap seconds isn't included in their battery of tests then they have a hole in their testing procedure.

Re:Stupid

[bickerdyke]

Why abolish it?

You're free to CHOOSE your timescale! GPS, UTC, UT1, TIA.....

So if leap seconds confuse you, use a timescale without them. Thats what they're for. But keep the timescale that's supposed to be in sync with earth rotation in sync with earth rotation!