Subj : Re: Message Timezones
To   : Digital Man
From : Dream Master
Date : Thu Mar 31 2022 21:29:00

-=> Digital Man wrote to Dream Master <=-

 DM>   Re: Message Timezones
 DM>   By: Dream Master to Digital Man on Thu Mar 31 2022 10:47 am

 > Whenever I read through QWK and FTN-based messages, I see each message
 > tagged with a timezone or offset.

 DM> Unfortunately, not all messages are.

Standards, it seems that we lack standards.  :)

 > This is great, yet I also feel it isn't
 > necessary. Instead, why can't we inquire with the user during sign-up and
 > within the Default User Config.

 DM> I've considered it. Users do move around however, sometimes between
 DM> time zones. The BBS usually stays in one time zone.

Really?  Why would users move around?  If our users are connecting into our
systems, they still have a "home" location, such as PST8PDT or MST7MDT (old
school, but America/Los Angeles or America/Denver).  I think I'm trying to
compare BBSes and our users to that of business e-mail and messaging systems
(Teams, Slack, Exchange, etc.) where each is configured to the user's timezone
and the BBS is configured to whatever timezone it is sourced at.  Even if we
configure everything to UTC, user offsets could still be a "thing".

 DM> If the standard was to timestamp messagse in UTC, then at least for
 DM> message creation, it would be a moot point (what zone the BBS or the
 DM> author was in), but unfortunately, that's not how existing BBS message
 DM> networks work. The date/time stamps of messages are generally expected
 DM> to be in the local time of the BBS.

Very valid point.  Just one of those "nice to have" things.

 DM> A message reader could already do that in theory: just display a
 DM> message's timestamp in UTC or convert to the user's preferred zone on
 DM> the fly.

 DM> I kind of like seeing the originating timezone and the local time
 DM> myself however. <shrug> --
 
I'd love to see a message reader do that.  Now, if I can only find the time in
my overly hectic life to add something to our message readers.  And your shrug,
I support it.  I do like seeing where people are at, generally speaking.


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