[Python-Dev] Stdlib and timezones, again

[Lennart Regebro]

On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 5:25 PM, Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:

> On Sep 30, 2012, at 02:47 PM, Lennart Regebro wrote:
>
> >The problem with including pytz in the stdlib is that it contains the
> >tz/zoneinfo/Olson database, and it updates much more often than Python
> >does.
>
> Why include the database in Python at all?
>

Exactly my point.


> If you have an OS that keeps the system tz data up-to-date, I can't think
> of
> any reason why you wouldn't want to use it.
>
> If you don't have the data, why not include information in the
> documentation
> for how to download and install the database in a location that Python will
> search for, along with information on how to enable that?  You could even
> provide a nice script that would download, install, and optionally enable
> that
> tz data's use.
>

Right, I was going to do that by bundling the files in a package,
tentatively called pytzdata, available on PyPI, so it can be
easy_installed/pip installed, etc.


> I think that would cover all the bases:
>
> * My OS keeps the tz data up-to-date.  I don't have to do nuthin', and
> Python
>   gives me a nice API for using all the world's timezones on my superb OS.
>
> * My OS keeps the tz data up-to-date, but I'm skeptical.  I run the update
>   script whenever is appropriate, adding the --enable flag, and the tz
> data is
>   grabbed from the intarwebs, installed, and Python starts using it
> instead of
>   the system data.
>
> * I am sad because I use an OS that has no tz data.  I run the update
> script
>   once in a while, adding the --enable flag, and my Python is timezonally
>   happy.
>
> * I'm sad and lazy.  Oh well, Python throws an exception when I try to use
> a
>   timezone that isn't UTC.
>

We seem to be on the same page here.

//Lennart
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