From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Thu Feb 20 10:31:59 2020 Received: (at submit) by debbugs.gnu.org; 20 Feb 2020 15:31:59 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:45627 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4nny-0007R2-Jn for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:31:59 -0500 Received: from lists.gnu.org ([209.51.188.17]:43670) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6v-0005Eb-DS for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 07:39:21 -0500 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:51434) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6u-0000S4-5x for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 07:39:21 -0500 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.2 (2011-06-06) on eggs.gnu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.1 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW, URIBL_BLOCKED autolearn=disabled version=3.3.2 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6r-00041M-5M for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 07:39:19 -0500 Received: from smtp-out12.electric.net ([89.104.206.45]:54375) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6q-0003z3-Vw for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 07:39:17 -0500 Received: from 1j4l6h-0002Ss-VW by out12c.electric.net with emc1-ok (Exim 4.92.3) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6i-0002Yi-T4 for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 04:39:08 -0800 Received: by emcmailer; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 04:39:07 -0800 Received: from [193.111.162.2] (helo=mailhub-p01.dbc.dk) by out12c.electric.net with esmtpsa (TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128) (Exim 4.92.3) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6h-0002Ss-VW for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 04:39:07 -0800 Received: from ex-p01.dbc.dk ([172.16.1.151]) by mailhub-p01.dbc.dk with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4l6h-0000v3-NZ for bug-coreutils@gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 13:39:07 +0100 Received: from EX-P02.dbc.dk (172.16.1.152) by ex-p01.dbc.dk (172.16.1.151) with Microsoft SMTP Server (version=TLS1_2, cipher=TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256) id 15.1.1713.5; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 13:39:07 +0100 Received: from EX-P02.dbc.dk ([fe80::fc21:1b51:2646:3fc9]) by EX-P02.dbc.dk ([fe80::fc21:1b51:2646:3fc9%7]) with mapi id 15.01.1713.006; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 13:39:07 +0100 From: Mads Bondo Dydensborg To: "bug-coreutils@gnu.org" Subject: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the standard? Thread-Topic: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the standard? Thread-Index: AQHV5+kKaUPD+ZcljUeqnJrSlijlHw== Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 12:39:07 +0000 Message-ID: Accept-Language: da-DK, en-US Content-Language: da-DK X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [172.17.28.61] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Authenticated: out@dbc.dk X-Outbound-IP: 193.111.162.2 X-Env-From: mabd@dbc.dk X-Proto: esmtpsa X-Revdns: gw.dbc.dk X-HELO: mailhub-p01.dbc.dk X-TLS: TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 X-Authenticated_ID: out@dbc.dk X-Virus-Status: Scanned by VirusSMART (c) X-Virus-Status: Scanned by VirusSMART (b) X-PolicySMART: 5857712 X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.2.x-3.x [generic] [fuzzy] X-Received-From: 89.104.206.45 X-Spam-Score: 0.2 (/) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: submit X-Mailman-Approved-At: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 10:31:58 -0500 X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -0.8 (/) Hi there As have been established in 2006 and again in 2010, the rfc-3339 mandates t= he use of "T" in a single field timestamp. This is currently not output by = date (version 8.28) Actual (example) output by "date --rfc-3339=3Dns" 2020-02-20 13:32:19.315773856+01:00 Expected output by above: 2020-02-20T13:32:19.315773856+01:00 There is a bug report here: https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug= =3D6132, that established this as a bug.=20 It seems requirements at the time was for at patch that could also parse th= e output with T, but as this output is=20 a subset of ISO8601 (with T), this should be trivially fulfilled. The change is trivial, I believe, including two tests. Culprit code (from date.c in coreutils) static char const rfc_3339_format[][32] =3D { "%Y-%m-%d", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S%:z", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%N%:z" Tests to be corrected (AFAICT): ['epoch-r', '--rfc-3339=3Dsec -d @31536000', {OUT=3D>"1971-01-01 00:00:00+00:00"}], ['ns-10-r', '--rfc-3339=3Dns', '-d "1969-12-31 13:00:00.00000001-1100"= ', {OUT=3D>"1970-01-01 00:00:00.000000010+00:00"}], ['ns-max32-r', '--rfc-3339=3Dns', '-d "2038-01-19 03:14:07.999999999"'= , {OUT=3D>"2038-01-19 03:14:07.999999999+00:00"}], Is there any chance for this to be fixed / a patch to be accepted? Or, woul= d some other approach be sought to get this error in date fixed? Br Mads=20 --=20 Mads Bondo Dydensborg= From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Thu Feb 20 11:16:52 2020 Received: (at 39693) by debbugs.gnu.org; 20 Feb 2020 16:16:53 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:45681 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4oVQ-0003Un-LC for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 11:16:52 -0500 Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([131.179.128.68]:45452) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4oVO-0003Oz-EZ for 39693@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 11:16:51 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 356E016008A; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:16:44 -0800 (PST) Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10032) with ESMTP id ZsLRFjoVwZ_v; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:16:43 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8500F160091; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:16:43 -0800 (PST) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at zimbra.cs.ucla.edu Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10026) with ESMTP id 1wuzqM6dx4Bj; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:16:43 -0800 (PST) Received: from [192.168.1.9] (cpe-23-242-74-103.socal.res.rr.com [23.242.74.103]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 60B6D16008A; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:16:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: bug#39693: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the standard? References: From: Paul Eggert Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department To: Mads Bondo Dydensborg Message-ID: <8ff50c02-d6d8-43c2-b073-fd6feafe3a3d@cs.ucla.edu> Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:16:43 -0800 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.4.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Score: -2.3 (--) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 39693 Cc: 39693@debbugs.gnu.org X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -3.3 (---) On 2/20/20 4:39 AM, Mads Bondo Dydensborg wrote: > As have been established in 2006 and again in 2010, the rfc-3339 mandates the use of "T" in a single field timestamp. No, RFC 3339 explicitly allows the use of space. It says: NOTE: ISO 8601 defines date and time separated by "T". Applications using this syntax may choose, for the sake of readability, to specify a full-date and full-time separated by (say) a space character. This paragraph was put into the RFC at my suggestion, precisely so that GNU "date" output wouldn't have to contain that "T". Tf you want GNU 'date' to output the 'T', you can use 'date --iso-8601=s' instead of 'date --rfc-3339=s'. That's the point of having these two options for GNU 'date'. If it weren't for this difference in behavior, GNU 'date' wouldn't have needed a --rfc-3339 option in the first place, and we shouldn't change the meaning of --rfc-3339 to eviscerate the whole point of the option. From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Thu Feb 20 11:22:17 2020 Received: (at control) by debbugs.gnu.org; 20 Feb 2020 16:22:18 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:45689 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4oaf-0004Hp-MZ for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 11:22:17 -0500 Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([131.179.128.68]:46988) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j4oad-0004Hb-Lk for control@debbugs.gnu.org; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 11:22:16 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3355E16008A for ; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:22:09 -0800 (PST) Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10032) with ESMTP id ZUOOMkHJtkBg for ; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:22:08 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 98D79160091 for ; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:22:08 -0800 (PST) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at zimbra.cs.ucla.edu Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10026) with ESMTP id l3SWhsz08PSf for ; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:22:08 -0800 (PST) Received: from [192.168.1.9] (cpe-23-242-74-103.socal.res.rr.com [23.242.74.103]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 7721716008A for ; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:22:08 -0800 (PST) To: control@debbugs.gnu.org From: Paul Eggert Subject: merge a couple of 'date' bugs and mark them as not bugs Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Message-ID: <6dccb217-cd4c-9bb8-2f59-1e86252a15c8@cs.ucla.edu> Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:22:08 -0800 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.4.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Score: -2.3 (--) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: control X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -3.3 (---) severity 6132 normal merge 6132 39693 tags 6132 notabug close 35032 From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Fri Feb 21 10:33:54 2020 Received: (at 39693) by debbugs.gnu.org; 21 Feb 2020 15:33:54 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:47838 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j5AJN-0005fr-Q8 for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 10:33:54 -0500 Received: from smtp-out12.electric.net ([89.104.206.34]:64610) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j53Ah-0002MS-V4 for 39693@debbugs.gnu.org; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 02:56:28 -0500 Received: from 1j53Af-0006IS-U2 by out12c.electric.net with emc1-ok (Exim 4.92.3) (envelope-from ) id 1j53Af-0006Je-V6; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 23:56:25 -0800 Received: by emcmailer; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 23:56:25 -0800 Received: from [193.111.162.2] (helo=mailhub-p01.dbc.dk) by out12c.electric.net with esmtpsa (TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128) (Exim 4.92.3) (envelope-from ) id 1j53Af-0006IS-U2; Thu, 20 Feb 2020 23:56:25 -0800 Received: from ex-p01.dbc.dk ([172.16.1.151]) by mailhub-p01.dbc.dk with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j53Af-0004fB-8g; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 08:56:25 +0100 Received: from EX-P02.dbc.dk (172.16.1.152) by EX-P02.dbc.dk (172.16.1.152) with Microsoft SMTP Server (version=TLS1_2, cipher=TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256) id 15.1.1713.5; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 08:56:25 +0100 Received: from EX-P02.dbc.dk ([fe80::fc21:1b51:2646:3fc9]) by EX-P02.dbc.dk ([fe80::fc21:1b51:2646:3fc9%7]) with mapi id 15.01.1713.006; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 08:56:25 +0100 From: Mads Bondo Dydensborg To: Paul Eggert Subject: Sv: bug#39693: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the standard? Thread-Topic: bug#39693: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the standard? Thread-Index: AQHV5+kKaUPD+ZcljUeqnJrSlijlH6gkMbGAgAEOgW0= Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 07:56:24 +0000 Message-ID: <114dc56148794d04ad830f649de3d0cc@dbc.dk> References: , <8ff50c02-d6d8-43c2-b073-fd6feafe3a3d@cs.ucla.edu> In-Reply-To: <8ff50c02-d6d8-43c2-b073-fd6feafe3a3d@cs.ucla.edu> Accept-Language: da-DK, en-US Content-Language: da-DK X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: x-originating-ip: [172.17.28.61] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Authenticated: out@dbc.dk X-Outbound-IP: 193.111.162.2 X-Env-From: mabd@dbc.dk X-Proto: esmtpsa X-Revdns: gw.dbc.dk X-HELO: mailhub-p01.dbc.dk X-TLS: TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:128 X-Authenticated_ID: out@dbc.dk X-Virus-Status: Scanned by VirusSMART (c) X-Virus-Status: Scanned by VirusSMART (b) X-PolicySMART: 5857712 X-PolicySMART: 5857712 X-Spam-Score: -0.7 (/) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 39693 X-Mailman-Approved-At: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 10:33:52 -0500 Cc: "39693@debbugs.gnu.org" <39693@debbugs.gnu.org> X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -1.7 (-) Hi again Your statement is in conflict with the message exchange, referenced by the = bug I linked to, with, as I understand it, the authors of the standard: https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?msg=3D11;filename=3Drfc3339+is+th= e+T+mandatory%3F.eml;att=3D1;bug=3D6132 The date-time production in rfc-3339 clearly includes a literal "T". All examples in rfc-3339 includes a T. The ISO output from date can not be used, as it uses a "," as fractional se= parator (which is preferred in ISO8601:2004), where rfc-3339 specifies a ".= ". So, no dice, the output date --iso-8601=3Dns is not a valid rfc-3339 datetime with fractionalparts. It truly is a mess, IMHO, but adding T to the rfc-3339 output would, AFACIT= , make it conform to the ABNF in section 5.6 of rfc-3339, which can't be a = bad thing. Kind regards Mads ________________________________ Fra: Paul Eggert Sendt: 20. februar 2020 17:16:43 Til: Mads Bondo Dydensborg Cc: 39693@debbugs.gnu.org Emne: Re: bug#39693: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the stan= dard? On 2/20/20 4:39 AM, Mads Bondo Dydensborg wrote: > As have been established in 2006 and again in 2010, the rfc-3339 mandates= the use of "T" in a single field timestamp. No, RFC 3339 explicitly allows the use of space. It says: NOTE: ISO 8601 defines date and time separated by "T". Applications using this syntax may choose, for the sake of readability, to specify a full-date and full-time separated by (say) a space character. This paragraph was put into the RFC at my suggestion, precisely so that GNU "date" output wouldn't have to contain that "T". Tf you want GNU 'date' to output the 'T', you can use 'date --iso-8601=3Ds' instead of 'date --rfc-3339=3Ds'. That's the point of having these two opti= ons for GNU 'date'. If it weren't for this difference in behavior, GNU 'date' would= n't have needed a --rfc-3339 option in the first place, and we shouldn't change= the meaning of --rfc-3339 to eviscerate the whole point of the option. From debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Fri Feb 21 14:25:51 2020 Received: (at 39693) by debbugs.gnu.org; 21 Feb 2020 19:25:51 +0000 Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:48149 helo=debbugs.gnu.org) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j5Dvq-0000oN-R7 for submit@debbugs.gnu.org; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:25:51 -0500 Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([131.179.128.68]:38850) by debbugs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1j5Dvo-0000o9-63 for 39693@debbugs.gnu.org; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 14:25:49 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id E91781600D3; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:25:41 -0800 (PST) Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10032) with ESMTP id hD9y754LlAIf; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:25:41 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 464591600C7; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:25:41 -0800 (PST) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at zimbra.cs.ucla.edu Received: from zimbra.cs.ucla.edu ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (zimbra.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10026) with ESMTP id hR0A4DVltvrE; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:25:41 -0800 (PST) Received: from Penguin.CS.UCLA.EDU (Penguin.CS.UCLA.EDU [131.179.64.200]) by zimbra.cs.ucla.edu (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 2E5151600B7; Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:25:41 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: Sv: bug#39693: Any chance of fixing --rfc-3339 to conform to the standard? To: Mads Bondo Dydensborg References: <8ff50c02-d6d8-43c2-b073-fd6feafe3a3d@cs.ucla.edu> <114dc56148794d04ad830f649de3d0cc@dbc.dk> From: Paul Eggert Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Message-ID: <96d9b917-fd73-2a3c-b074-41cdce0dccd6@cs.ucla.edu> Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:25:40 -0800 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.5.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <114dc56148794d04ad830f649de3d0cc@dbc.dk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Score: -2.3 (--) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 39693 Cc: 39693@debbugs.gnu.org X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -3.3 (---) On 2/20/20 11:56 PM, Mads Bondo Dydensborg wrote: > Your statement is in conflict with the message exchange, referenced by the bug I linked to, with, as I understand it, the authors of the standard: Not really. In that email exchange one of the authors of the RFC mentioned a goal of the RFC. The part of the RFC that I quoted, though, is an explicit exception to that particular goal. The RFC had several goals, they sometimes conflicted, and the RFC's text was a compromise. I was involved with the drafting of the RFC, and remember the history reasonably well. > The ISO output from date can not be used, as it uses a "," as fractional separator You can use the following if you want subsecond resolution with both 'T' and '.': date '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%N%:z' This won't work for some historical timestamps (e.g., the Netherlands before 1937) but RFC 3339 doesn't support them anyway so it's probably good enough.