Re: ntpsec as server questions
On Mon, Dec 04, 2023 at 03:19:33PM -0500, gene heskett wrote:
> On 12/4/23 07:17, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> > ls -hal /etc/localtime
>
> Aha! You found it, but how do I change it?
> root@mkspi:/etc# cat timezone
> America/New_York
> root@mkspi:/etc# ls -hal /etc/localtime
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Jul 25 2022 /etc/localtime ->
> /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles
It's just a symbolic link. It looks like you have the "modern" style
of zone names, so:
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime
> use mc to edit the /etc/localtime link? Surely there is better way...
I don't know how mc works. I've never used it. If that can change the
target of a symlink, similar to running "ln -sf", then you may use it.
> The string as the last few
> bytes of posixrules looks correct at EST5EDT, and I've got a headache.
> there are links to links to links in that midden heap.
I classify time zone names into three historic eras. In the oldest era,
you have zone names like EST5EDT which are composed of three pieces.
The first piece, EST, is the zone's name when the clock is "normal" (not
daylight saving or summer time). The second piece, 5, is the number
of hours behind GMT the clock is (normally). The third piece, EDT, is
the zone's name when daylight saving time is in effect.
In the second era, zone names look like "US/Eastern". The piece on the
right hand side is a component of the piece on the left. I'm uncertain
whether the pieces on the left are always country codes, or if there's
some other arrangement.
In the modern era, zone names look like "America/Chicago". The piece on
the left is a continent (or other large geographic region, e.g. "Pacific"),
and the piece on the right is a major city, preferably *the* major city,
which exemplifies the specific time zone in question.
For you and me, the current era time zone name is "America/New_York".
This is how the Debian installer sets the localtime symlink, and is
what we should be using if we have to set it ourselves.
I personally find "US/Eastern" the easiest to grasp, and I'm sad that
this pattern fell out of fashion, for whatever reason. Whenever I tell
people on the Internet (who may not be Linux users) what time zone I'm
in, I always go with "US/Eastern". It's just so *clear*.
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