Subj : Time warp?
To   : Nicholas Boel
From : Michiel van der Vlist
Date : Fri Mar 21 2014 10:37:06

Hello Nicholas,

On Thursday March 20 2014 18:51, you wrote to me:

 MV>> No. The second time is in the same time zone as mine. UTC+0100.
 MV>> (indicated by the 0100 after the 16:09:05. If he is in the same
 MV>> time zone as I, his local time mist be the same as mine. So the
 MV>> 16:09:05 is NOT his local time.

 NB> I think you're right there, but it seems to me Argus is displaying UTC
 NB> time, and then giving the offset. In other words, showing his local
 NB> time as +0100 from UTC (16:09:05). At least that's how I'm seeing it
 NB> anyways.

Yes, that is how I see it too.

 MV>> No, the confusion arises because Argus does not follow the
 MV>> convention of using local time, it displays UTC instead.

 NB> What's wrong with displaying UTC and giving the correct offset,

It puts people on the wrong foot. I think the founding fathers made a mistake of using local time for the header in messages etc. Fisonet is a global network and using UTC across the network would have made many things a lot easier. It was partly corrected with the introduction of the TZUTC kludge, but a kludge it is.

Having said that: the mistake was made and we are stuck with it. The convention is to use local time and when relevant add the offset. The leg work to convert to UTC must be done on the receiving end. That is the convention.

Deviating from the convention gives rises to confusion which is demonstrated by the very fact that we are discussing it right now.

 NB> besides the fact that it isn't matching your logs?

Not just my log, the log of everyone else too.

 NB>  It clearly must be a bug, then. :)

It is a deviation from the standard as documented in FTS-1026.

 NB> Is Argus currently developed?

AFAIK, it no longer is.

 NB>  Is the source available? If so, do something about it

As Paul pointed out, others have already done that. The updated version is called Radius.

It is now up to the sysops to upgrade their software.

 NB> if it *bugs* you that much. :)

It does not bother me all that much. What bothers me is that some go into denial mode and claim there is something wrong with my binkd setup that causes the anomaly. While the facts are clear: it is Argus that displays UTC instead of local time. If that simple fact would be acknowleged, we can end this thread.


Cheers, Michiel

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