[PATCH 2/3] winsup/doc/faq-api.xml(faq.api.timezone): explain time zone updates

Brian Inglis Brian.Inglis@SystematicSW.ab.ca
Mon Aug 24 20:11:00 GMT 2020


based on material from tz@IANA.org mailing list sources
---
 winsup/doc/faq-api.xml | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 1 file changed, 25 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/winsup/doc/faq-api.xml b/winsup/doc/faq-api.xml
index f51eeac48835..029f5ce5f580 100644
--- a/winsup/doc/faq-api.xml
+++ b/winsup/doc/faq-api.xml
@@ -385,13 +385,34 @@ Cygwin version number details, check out the
 </answer></qandaentry>
 
 <qandaentry id="faq.api.timezone">
-<question><para>Why isn't timezone set correctly?</para></question>
+<question><para>Why isn't time zone set correctly?</para></question>
 <answer>
 
-<para><emphasis role='bold'>(Please note: This section has not yet been updated for the latest net release.)</emphasis>
-</para>
-<para>Did you explicitly call tzset() before checking the value of timezone?
+<para>Did you explicitly call tzset() before checking the value of time zone?
 If not, you must do so.
+Time zone settings are updated by changes to the tzdata package included in all
+Cygwin installations.
+Have you run the Cygwin Setup program recently to update at least the
+<filename>tzdata</filename>
+package to include the latest current daylight saving (summer time) rules
+for dates of changes, hour offsets from UTC of time zones, and the
+geographic regions to which those rules and offsets apply.
+</para>
+<para>These changes are decided on by politicians, and announced
+by government officials, sometimes with short or no notice, so
+<filename>tzdata</filename>
+package updates are released at least a few, and sometimes several,
+times a year.
+As details of changes are not known until they are announced publicly by
+officials, often in foreign languages, and those details then have to be
+noticed, possibly translated, passed to, and picked up by the official
+<filename>tzdata</filename>
+source package maintainers, subsequently released in an update to the
+<filename>tzdata</filename>
+source package, and then those changes have to be picked up on and applied
+to the Cygwin
+<filename>tzdata</filename>
+package, which has to be updated, built, tested, and released publicly.
 </para>
 </answer></qandaentry>
 
-- 
2.28.0



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