[arch-projects] [initscripts][RFC] deprecating TIMEZONE from rc.conf

[Thomas Bächler]

Am 16.05.2011 20:28, schrieb Tom Gundersen:
> From: Tom Gundersen <teg at jklm.no>
> Date: Mon, 16 May 2011 13:17:48 +0200
> Subject: [PATCH] timezone: deprecate the TIMEZONE variable
> 
> Setting the TIMEZONE in rc.conf is a bad idea for several reasons:
> 
>  * it requires a reboot before taking effect, for people changing timezone's
>    frequently (this is common if you travel a lot, especially annoying if you
>    have several stop overs in different timezones and want your laptop's clock
>    to be correct)
>  * it is non-standard, so advice/guides that apply to other distro's will not
>    apply to arch
>  * it is non-standard, so gui tools like the ones found in KDE/GNOME will not
>    be aware of the setting in rc.conf, and whatever change they do will be
>    overwritten on next boot.
>  * it is one of the few remaining blockers for ro /etc support in initscripts

There are two ways of setting the time zone:
1) /etc/localtime (global setting)
2) TZ environment variable (per session)

Any application or desktop can decide to override a global setting with
the TZ variable! The TIMEZONE in rc.conf provides a way to make sure
/etc/localtime is set and up to date (as it is updated during boot). I
see no problem with this setting (although I would prefer a symlink
instead of a copy - this caused problems in the far past, if I remember
correctly).

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