Python patch analog

[Skip Montanaro]

    Laura> What happens when somebody's computer has a completely wrong idea
    Laura> what time it is?

Depends upon how time-critical things are on that machine and the machines
it communicates with.  Maybe nothing, maybe laughably wrong timestamps on
email messages which originate there, maybe mildly to wildly incorrect
compound interest calculations allowing clever people to siphon off funds to
offshort bank accounts without sounding alarms.

    Laura> What happens when daylight savings time happens?  

Depending on the type of computer and how its onboard clock is set (to UTC
or local time), maybe nothing, maybe a shift of between -120 and 120
minutes.  (I think two hours is the max shift in any timezone.)

    Laura> What happens when you share data between users in different time
    Laura> zones?

Depends on how the time is represented and what conventions about time
keeping have been established by those users.

    Laura> different time zones with different rules for what day we start
    Laura> daylight savings?

I'm not aware of any, but I'm no expert.  Sounds like you have some
practical experience in this regard.

Someone here or on python-dev recently recommended this URL:

    http://www.naggum.no/lugm-time.html

I found it interresting.  You might also.

Skip