On 2025-12-03 12:36, Kim Davies via tz wrote:
Quoting John Hawkinson via tz on Wednesday December 03, 2025:
Are we really telling James that he is supposed to go change Google Calendar.
AND Zoom?
...
It sure is convenient for us to pretend that identifiers are not exposed to
users, but that has never been true.
Some years back, when we identified a spate of government regulators
making time zone policy changes on short notice, we started some
explicit outreach to governments to send messages on what best practices
are and the consequences of doing it poorly. It is something we've
reinforced periodically when we speak with governments around the typical
shift into and out of daylight saving time.
Would a similar approach to software vendors be desirable, particuarly
notable applications that have a large audience that use naked TZ
identifiers, to encourage them to do something else? If so, what is the
guidance? I don't think pointing merely pointing to a theory file is
going to move the needle but a more tailored set of guidance on best
practices, what implementation options are available like the CLDR, case
studies on user interface patterns, and other resources may be helpful.
ICANN has general engagement activities with software vendors in areas
like universal acceptance of Internet identifiers and adoption of
emerging technical standards. Maybe if there are talking points around
this can be added to the litany of things they do outreach on. If there
are particularly egregious examples that need correction we can try and
get it on their radar on a case-by-case basis.
Mozilla Thunderbird Calendar (formerly Lightning) still uses some previous
unspecified tzdb id list in its time interfaces even on Windows!
Could at least use and display Windows zone and list with CLDR WindowsZones.xml
(via ICU?) to convert.
--
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada
La perfection est atteinte Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retrancher but when there is no more to cut
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
