Differences between version 12 and revision by previous author of UTC.
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| Newer page: | version 12 | Last edited on Saturday, October 4, 2003 4:23:37 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
| Older page: | version 1 | Last edited on Thursday, October 2, 2003 1:57:16 pm | by SamJansen | Revert |
@@ -1 +1,22 @@
-Universal
Coordinated Time
+An [Acronym] for __U__niversale __T__emps __C__oordinee, ie
Coordinated Universal
Time.
+
+This is the standard time zone all other time zones are based on. It replaced [GMT] in the early 1970s. [UTC] is measured with atomic clocks. It is kept within .9 seconds of [TAI], but with an integral number of leap seconds added occasionally to reflect the season at and location on the planet. This way [UTC] stays in sync with the rotation of the earth, making sure midnight always occurs at the same time relative to the stars.
+
+To date all corrections have been positive to account for the tidal drag on the earth which slows the planet down.
+
+For more information see http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/systime.html
+
+Compare [GMT], [TAI].
+
+----
+
+[Unix] systems and cousins traditionally store times as [UTC], and convert them according to the local timezone settings only for display. On a typical [Linux] machine, __/etc/timezone__ contains the time zone (such as __Pacific/Auckland__), and __/etc/localtime__ is a SymLink to a binary file containing information on the standard and the daylight savings offset of that time zone, as well instructions on how to calculate when daylight savings is in effect. In the above-mentioned example it might look like this:
+
+ __/etc $__ ls -l localtime
+ lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 33 Apr 22 00:19 __localtime__ -> __/usr/share/zoneinfo/Pacific/Auckland__
+
+The SuperUser can use tzselect(1) to change these settings.
+
+Also, __/etc/default/rcS__ ''(AddToMe: not on [Slackware]; which distro?)'' contains a __UTC__ variable to tell your [Kernel] whether or not your hardware clock is set to [UTC]. Doing so and setting __UTC=yes__ is A Good Idea.
+
+For more about setting up your machine's clock, see HowToClock and [NTP].
