Re: Removing locale timezone information

[keld at keldix dot com]

On Wed, Jun 03, 2015 at 06:56:57PM +0300, Marko Myllynen wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> glibc allows defining timezone as part of locale information but very
> few locales do it, only 6 out of almost 300 locales implement it. The
> LC_TIME/timezone keyword is not in POSIX standards (but comes from ISO
> TR 14652) and the comment in programs/ld-time.c seems to suggest it was
> not such a good idea to begin with:
> 
>   /* XXX We don't perform any tests on the timezone value since this is
>      simply useless, stupid $&$!@...  */
> 
> I'm sure nobody wants to even think about duplicating tzdata information
> in glibc locale files so I propose that, in the name of consistency, we
> remove the existing timezone definitions from the shipped locale files
> but leave the actual code still available (to allow any possible custom
> locales defining it to be used).
> 
> Thoughts? If there are no objections, I can file a BZ and submit a patch.
> 
> The locales in question are: km_KH, lo_LA, my_MM, nan_TW@latin, th_TH,
> uk_UA.

I suggest that we polulate the locales and also follow the extended syntax
of ISO TR 14652 and 30112. You can chose to only use POSIX TZ and be wrong
for a number of dates. or use the more elaborate spec and do a number
of these dayes right. The fix deals with daylight savings specifications,
which changed at some time in the USA amongst others. 

Furthermore the locale spec facilitates a simpler initial setup avoiding
one (or two) questions, and possibly automating the setup completely.
This cannot be done just using POSIX spec in this area.

Best regards
keld