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Old 07-27-2009, 10:12 AM   #1
tekhead2
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Whats the deal with UTC anyway??


I've been using Linux and Unix now for over ten years and I still don't have a clue why it seems to be the only OS that is concerned if your system board uses local time or UTC. Is there a specific reason why this is so? I've been involved with ham radio and that's the only time I've even thought of or used UTC. Is UTC something that everyone else uses just not the US? Does anyone know why every distro I've ever used always asks about UTC?
 
Old 07-27-2009, 10:23 AM   #2
amani
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POSIX standards
 
Old 07-27-2009, 10:26 AM   #3
catkin
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Hello tekhead2

How about ...

We've got one big network all around the globe and computers are timestamping things on it; if we're all running on different clocks any time comparisons (log files, for example) are difficult or meaningless so it's neat if we all use the same time and sync it to global clocks using the likes of NTP. Great -- now we're all on the same page.

Except -- only people living around latitude 0 degrees actually use UTC day to day and some of them use daylight savings so UTC isn't the best choice for knowing when the bar is going to open.

Solution -- set the computer to UTC but adjust it to show the local time for the user. This is sweet for long distance travelers too; they only have to change their timezone as they move around; the computer clock stays on UTC and doesn't have to be adjusted according to where the computer happens to be.

Best

Charles

Last edited by catkin; 07-27-2009 at 10:28 AM. Reason: Typos
 
Old 07-27-2009, 10:30 AM   #4
tekhead2
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That makes sense. I was looking for an example in application, thanks catkin.
 
  


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