GNU bug report logs - #15785
Problem with incrementing date when clock goes back

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Message #11 received at 15785 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Samuel Penn <spenn <at> perforce.com>
To: Eric Blake <eblake <at> redhat.com>
Cc: 15785 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#15785: Problem with incrementing date when clock goes back
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2013 16:54:08 +0000 (GMT)

Eric Blake wrote: 
> On 11/01/2013 09:21 AM, Samuel Penn wrote:
> > 
> > The "date" command seems to have a problem when the clock goes
> > back.
> > Last Sunday (27th October 2013), the time changed from BST to GMT,
> > so we had a day with 25 hours in it.
> 
> Yep.  And it is a FAQ that 25-hour days mess with relative date
> calculations:
> https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/faq/coreutils-faq.html#The-date-command-is-not-working-right_002e

> The FAQ also suggests basing your computations around noon rather
> than midnight, so that even the fuzz of daylight savings won't get in the
> way of you landing in the correct day.

I did have a skim through that, but I didn't see the "tomorrow"
issue mentioned for DST changes.

Setting to Noon does mean you lose the current time, in the case
when you want to preserve time (as best as possible) and just
change the day.

It does feel very wrong that "tomorrow" doesn't always give 
tomorrow. It would seem better to give an unexpected time in this
case, rather than an unexpected day. IMO.

> Hence, I'm leaving this bug open a bit longer (even though
> it is just one of many bug reports on the theme that typically appear
> twice a year).

Hmm, I wonder why that is.

Okay, thanks for taking the time to respond.

-- 
Samuel Penn
Software Engineer
Perforce Software



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