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No, the fundamental problem is that DST is an ill-conceived concept, and being forced to inscribe it in software exposes all the contradictions and inconsistenc

No, the fundamental problem is that DST is an ill-conceived concept, and being forced to inscribe it in software exposes all the contradictions and inconsistencies. As another poster said, when is 1:30am on November 6th in Ontario? The only thing this has to with computers is that we do all organizational stuff with computers nowadays. Changing DST on short notice would have caused chaos in the 19th century as well.

hilbert42 4y ago
"an ill-conceived concept," That's just an opinion, not an absolute fact. There's nothing fundamental about it. After all, over the last hundred years or more most countries have had DST so that's the opposite opinion - and for DST to be so widely adopted many millions thought it was a good idea. I'm only stating facts. Frankly, I couldn't give damn whether we had DST or not and I can never understand why people get so hot and bothered over the issue. If I were ever forced to choose a system then I'd choose neither standard time or DST. Instead I'd move all clocks forward an hour and leave them there permanently but I'd never lose any sleep over the matter.
- mike_hock 4y ago
  I literally lose sleep twice a year over DST :D Yes, twice. When the clock suddenly moves back, that also causes jetlag.
  - hilbert42 4y ago
    No doubt that's a significant problem for you and others like you. But then how do we reconcile your requirements with those of others, especially when their requirements differ significantly from yours? The usual answer is to base this on a democratic decision. Either way, the minority loses out. On that point, my comments to this story turned out to be provocative but that definitely wasn't my original intention. Nevertheless, what has been very informative has been the voting on my comments, they've oscillated continually but on average they've ended up pretty close to neutral. This tells me that strongly opposing views are held in relatively equal numbers across the population and other surveys seem to indicate this depending on country, location etc. That said, the opponents of DST seem to be making a stronger pushing politically at the moment (fashions change, where I am DST was overwhelming supported when first introduced and it still has relatively strong support although its opponents are more vocal nowadays). As a person who doesn't care one way or other, it seems I'm part of a rather small minority.

hilbert42 4y ago

"an ill-conceived concept," That's just an opinion, not an absolute fact. There's nothing fundamental about it. After all, over the last hundred years or more most countries have had DST so that's the opposite opinion - and for DST to be so widely adopted many millions thought it was a good idea. I'm only stating facts. Frankly, I couldn't give damn whether we had DST or not and I can never understand why people get so hot and bothered over the issue. If I were ever forced to choose a system then I'd choose neither standard time or DST. Instead I'd move all clocks forward an hour and leave them there permanently but I'd never lose any sleep over the matter.

mike_hock 4y ago
I literally lose sleep twice a year over DST :D Yes, twice. When the clock suddenly moves back, that also causes jetlag.
- hilbert42 4y ago
  No doubt that's a significant problem for you and others like you. But then how do we reconcile your requirements with those of others, especially when their requirements differ significantly from yours? The usual answer is to base this on a democratic decision. Either way, the minority loses out. On that point, my comments to this story turned out to be provocative but that definitely wasn't my original intention. Nevertheless, what has been very informative has been the voting on my comments, they've oscillated continually but on average they've ended up pretty close to neutral. This tells me that strongly opposing views are held in relatively equal numbers across the population and other surveys seem to indicate this depending on country, location etc. That said, the opponents of DST seem to be making a stronger pushing politically at the moment (fashions change, where I am DST was overwhelming supported when first introduced and it still has relatively strong support although its opponents are more vocal nowadays). As a person who doesn't care one way or other, it seems I'm part of a rather small minority.