UPDATED: Preparing your Linux systems for the new DST

As most know, the USA has moved the change of daylight savings time forward to the 11th of March. While many/most current distributions have supplied updates for this change, some Linux systems (especially older ones), may not be set up to recognise the new dates. This article will help you to check if your system is set up for the change (my Mandriva is - I downloaded an update a month or two ago), and how to manually change the DST settings:

UPDATED: Preparing your Linux systems for the new DST

Quote:

Analysis -- "Spring forward; Fall back," That's the way the saying goes. Some years I get it backwards, but I eventually catch on. I've never had to worry about my PCs getting it wrong before, though. Now, with the recent changes in the Daylight Savings Time (DST) rules, I do. Fortunately, there are ways to make sure that both my Linux computers and I get the new rules right. Until now, most of us in the U.S. would set our clocks forward an hour in April and back an hour in October. However, in 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966. This turned our old, reliable Daylight Savings Time completely inside-out. The change goes into effect this year. (continues)

A quick way to check is to run the command "zdump -v /etc/localtime EST5EDT | grep 2007" (you may need to do this as SU). EST5EDT is for the Eastern time zone. If you're in the Central time zone, use CST6CDT; in the Mountain time zone use MST7MDT; and in the Pacific time zone, use PST8PDT.. I got the following results:

Quote:

/etc/localtime Sat Mar 24 15:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 25 02:59:59 2007 EST isds t=1 gmtoff=39600 /etc/localtime Sat Mar 24 16:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 25 02:00:00 2007 EST isds t=0 gmtoff=36000 /etc/localtime Sat Oct 27 15:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Oct 28 01:59:59 2007 EST isds t=0 gmtoff=36000 /etc/localtime Sat Oct 27 16:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Oct 28 03:00:00 2007 EST isds t=1 gmtoff=39600 EST5EDT Sun Mar 11 06:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 01:59:59 2007 EST isds t=0 gmtoff=-18000 EST5EDT Sun Mar 11 07:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 03:00:00 2007 EDT isds t=1 gmtoff=-14400 EST5EDT Sun Nov 4 05:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Nov 4 01:59:59 2007 EDT isds t=1 gmtoff=-14400 EST5EDT Sun Nov 4 06:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Nov 4 01:00:00 2007 EST isds t=0 gmtoff=-18000

The first 4 lines relate to my timezone (Eastern Australia, the second 4 lines are for EST5EDT, which is the USA's Eastern Time Zone. As you can see, my system does have the correct dates for the USA, which changes it's times on different dates to Australia.

Edit: The article has been updated. I have corrected the link above. I recommend that anyone who followed the instructions in the earlier article visit the new link to verify that they have done things correctly.

Why can't they (the government) just leave well enough alone???!!!
Better yet, Do away with DAYLIGHT SLAVING TIME all together.

Franklin should be drug out onto the public square & horse whipped for this!