Um - somebody else want to weigh in here on the scientific method?
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
So far I have yet to see one single example of non-astronomy software that needs changed to handle loss of leap-seconds.
And you have access to ATC and nuclear control systems? Has anyone at Boeing or GE even been informed of the looming doom of mean solar time?
Given how much software we have seen between the two of us, that brings the probability of finding any such software well below 1%.
Please read Feynman's description of the Challenger investigation. Your statistics are bogus.
In the other corner, I can point to any and all software that includes <time.h> as candidate software that needs to be audited for correct leap second handling.
Ok. So that makes two classes of software for the inventory. What classes of software shall we omit?
Purely from a cost perspective, any reasonable economist will at this point lean heavily towards throwing leap-seconds out.
"Reasonable economist"? Thanks for the chuckle. Ask a risk management expert.
Here's a scenario. An accident occurs. Lawyers for the plaintiffs or for any of the injured parties (passengers or whoever) find out that no notification was sent following a change to a timekeeping standard. Or perhaps a detailed memo was sent - but the defendant never performed a risk management assessment. Let's imagine the accident had nothing to do with the timekeeping standard. How would this be proved?
And who would the lawyers go after?
The first thing you have to do, is turn the "virtually zero"
into "non-zero" by finding at least one piece of software outside the realm of astronomy, which would be adversely affected by the discontinuation of leap-seconds.
I am (obviously) not the one pushing the initiative for change. The responsibility for making a case falls on the party pressing an issue. A coherent risk analysis is precisely the way to make their case and mitigate future liability.
Rob Seaman NOAO _______________________________________________ LEAPSECS mailing list LEAPSECS@leapsecond.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/leapsecs
