[Python-Dev] Stdlib and timezones, again

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Mon, 1 Oct 2012 11:25:08 -0400
Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:
> 
> If you have an OS that keeps the system tz data up-to-date, I can't think of
> any reason why you wouldn't want to use it.
> 
> If you don't have the data, why not include information in the documentation
> for how to download and install the database in a location that Python will
> search for, along with information on how to enable that?

Well, for one, that doesn't really fit in the "batteries included"
approach. Having to download separate data files is an annoyance.

> You could even
> provide a nice script that would download, install, and optionally enable that
> tz data's use.

This doesn't solve the update problem at all, since that tz data would
still be outdated after a couple of months. In other words, it has no
benefit for the user, but is more complicated to use.

Besides, that script would have to care about security issues. For
example you'd use a HTTPS-enabled source, and then bundle the
required CA certificates with Python. But wait, now Python has to ship
some data that will possibly become outdated in a year or two :-)

Regards

Antoine.


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