Procedures for Maintaining the Time Zone Database
RFC 6557
Document | Type |
RFC - Best Current Practice
(February 2012; No errata)
Also known as BCP 175
Was draft-lear-iana-timezone-database (individual in app area)
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Authors | Eliot Lear , Paul Eggert | ||
Last updated | 2015-10-14 | ||
Stream | IETF | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
Stream | WG state | (None) | |
Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 6557 (Best Current Practice) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Peter Saint-Andre | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) E. Lear Request for Comments: 6557 Cisco Systems GmbH BCP: 175 P. Eggert Category: Best Current Practice UCLA ISSN: 2070-1721 February 2012 Procedures for Maintaining the Time Zone Database Abstract Time zone information serves as a basic protocol element in protocols, such as the calendaring suite and DHCP. The Time Zone (TZ) Database specifies the indices used in various protocols, as well as their semantic meanings, for all localities throughout the world. This database has been meticulously maintained and distributed free of charge by a group of volunteers, coordinated by a single volunteer who is now planning to retire. This memo specifies procedures involved with maintenance of the TZ database and associated code, including how to submit proposed updates, how decisions for inclusion of those updates are made, and the selection of a designated expert by and for the time zone community. The intent of this memo is, to the extent possible, to document existing practice and provide a means to ease succession of the database maintainers. Status of This Memo This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice. This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on BCPs is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6557. Lear & Eggert Best Current Practice [Page 1] RFC 6557 Maintaining the Time Zone Database February 2012 Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. 1. Introduction The IETF has specified several standards that make use of time zone information. Time zone names are used in DHCP to configure devices with correct local time [RFC4833]. Time zone names can appear in the TZID field of calendaring VEVENTs [RFC5545]. The normative reference for these values is the TZ Database [TZDB]. From the early 1980s through 2011, that database, which has been in use on nearly all UNIX systems, Java systems, and other sorts of systems, was hosted at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The database consists of both historic and current entries for geographies throughout the world. Associated with the database is a reference implementation of ISO/IEC 9899 C [ISO9899C] and IEEE 1003.1 [IEEE1003.1] POSIX time functions that can be used to convert time values. The database was previously maintained by volunteers who participated in the <tz@elsie.nci.nih.gov> mailing list that was also hosted at the NIH. The database itself is updated approximately twenty times per year, depending on the year, based on information these experts provide to the maintainer. Arthur David Olson has maintained the database, coordinated the mailing list, and provided a release platform since the database's inception. With his retirement now approaching, it is necessary to provide a means for this good work to continue. The time zone community has requested that the IETF adopt the ongoing maintenance of the Time Zone Database. The time zone community would like the IETF to maintain it in a consistent fashion to its administration of the Internet protocol parameters and values. Lear & Eggert Best Current Practice [Page 2] RFC 6557 Maintaining the Time Zone Database February 2012 1.1. Terminology The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119]. IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority): For purposes of this RFC, IANA is a role, not an organization. The IANA ConsiderationsShow full document text