On 2025-12-03 00:01, James Lai via tz wrote:
1. An alternative label such as “IndianOcean/Mauritius” could be considered,
or
Unfortunately not likely, as the existing labels are longstanding and
adding an "IndianOcean" alias would be more likely to cause than lessen
problems. For example, we'd have to deal with many labels, not just
"Indian/Mauritius". (Of course you're free to add whatever extra aliases
you like in your own copy of TZDB.)
More generally, labels like "Indian/Mauritius" should not be exposed to
users unfamiliar with the naming scheme. See
<https://data.iana.org/time-zones/theory.html#naming>, which says:
---
Inexperienced users are not expected to select these names unaided.
Distributors should provide documentation and/or a simple selection
interface that explains each name via a map or via descriptive text like
"Czech Republic" instead of the timezone name "Europe/Prague"....
Unicode's Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR) contains data that may be
useful for other selection interfaces....
----
For Indian/Mauritius CLDR gives the names "Mauritius" (English),
"Maurice" (French), "سويشيروم" (Arabic), "毛里求斯" (Chinese), etc., and
users should see these names, not the internal label "Indian/Mauritius".
2. A documented alias or clarification could be added to help reduce
confusion for end users.
The three zone*.tab files contain the following clarifying comment;
perhaps you could point users at it, if they're concerned about the label?
# This table is intended as an aid for users, to help them select timezones
# appropriate for their practical needs. It is not intended to take or
# endorse any position on legal or territorial claims.
