Time Zone Database Release 2018e
Released
Downloads
| File | Description |
|---|---|
 tzdb-2018e.tar.lz (427.4kb) |
Complete Distribution (Data, Code and Extras) |
| tzdata2018e.tar.gz (345.7kb) |
Data Only Distribution |
| tzcode2018e.tar.gz (226.3kb) |
Code Only Distribution |
Release Notes
Briefly:
North Korea switches back to +09 on 2018-05-05.
The main format uses negative DST again, for Ireland etc.
'make tarballs' now also builds a rearguard tarball.
New 's' and 'd' suffixes in SAVE columns of Rule and Zone lines.
Changes to past and future timestamps
North Korea switches back from +0830 to +09 on 2018-05-05.
(Thanks to Kang Seonghoon, Arthur David Olson, Seo Sanghyeon,
and Tim Parenti.)
Bring back the negative-DST changes of 2018a, except be more
compatible with data parsers that do not support negative DST.
Also, this now affects historical timestamps in Namibia and the
former Czechoslovakia, not just Ireland. The main format now uses
negative DST to model timestamps in Europe/Dublin (from 1971 on),
Europe/Prague (1946/7), and Africa/Windhoek (1994/2017). This
does not affect UT offsets, only time zone abbreviations and the
tm_isdst flag. Also, this does not affect rearguard or vanguard
formats; effectively the main format now uses vanguard instead of
rearguard format. Data parsers that do not support negative DST
can still use data from the rearguard tarball described below.
Changes to build procedure
The command 'make tarballs' now also builds the tarball
tzdataVERSION-rearguard.tar.gz, which is like tzdataVERSION.tar.gz
except that it uses rearguard format intended for trailing-edge
data parsers.
Changes to data format and to code
The SAVE column of Rule and Zone lines can now have an 's' or 'd'
suffix, which specifies whether the adjusted time is standard time
or daylight saving time. If no suffix is given, daylight saving
time is used if and only if the SAVE column is nonzero; this is
the longstanding behavior. Although this new feature is not used
in tzdata, it could be used to specify the legal time in Namibia
1994-2017, as opposed to the popular time (see below).
Changes to past timestamps
From 1994 through 2017 Namibia observed DST in winter, not summer.
That is, it used negative DST, as Ireland still does. This change
does not affect UTC offsets; it affects only the tm_isdst flag and
the abbreviation used during summer, which is now CAT, not WAST.
Although (as noted by Michael Deckers) summer and winter time were
both simply called "standard time" in Namibian law, in common
practice winter time was considered to be DST (as noted by Stephen
Colebourne). The full effect of this change is only in vanguard
and main format; in rearguard format, the tm_isdst flag is still
zero in winter and nonzero in summer.
In 1946/7 Czechoslovakia also observed negative DST in winter.
The full effect of this change is only in vanguard and main
formats; in rearguard format, it is modeled as plain GMT without
daylight saving. Also, the dates of some 1944/5 DST transitions
in Czechoslovakia have been changed.