Re: date(1) doesn't handle leap-seconds?

[Paul Goyette <paul%whooppee.com@localhost>]

On Sun, 2 Nov 2008, Alan Barrett wrote:

> On Sun, 02 Nov 2008, Paul Goyette wrote:
> > $ TZ=GMT; export TZ
> > $ echo $(( $(date -ju '+%s' 200601010100) - $(date -ju '+%s' 200512310100) ))
> > 86400
> > $
> >
> > Is this a bug?
>
> Yes, but the bug is in POSIX, which specifies that "seconds
> since the epoch" (as used by several functions including
> time(3)) counts exactly 86400 seconds per day.  See
> <http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap04.html
> #tag_04_14> for the relevant definition in SUSv3.  This is incompatible
> with the natural meaning of "seconds since the epoch", which would count
> 86400 seconds on most days, but 86399 or 86401 seconds on days with
> deleted or inserted leap seconds.

Ah, OK.  So POSIX syystems are all currently off by 23 seconds, and soon 
to be off by 24 seconds (there's another leapsecond coming up at the end 
of 2008).  Bummer.


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