I wrote: > There will merely be no imminent >new version of the Olson database. We must watch to see whether this >will be a protracted state of affairs, and if so see what consensus >emerges about the future of the database.
Things are moving fast. Robert Elz, who already runs the munnari.oz.au archive of old Olson database versions, is now the de facto canonical host of the database, and has expressed willingness to publish new versions. He's specifically planning a new release for 2011-10-10, incorporating some updates and fixes that had already been discussed before tz@elsie was suspended. He's explicitly stated that he's not going to take down his FTP site, even if Olson and Eggert request it. A replacement mailing list is in operation, hosted by IANA. Looks like we're going to have very good continuity. It's all been helped by the nearly-complete IETF work to establish a long-term process for maintenance of the database. -zefram
