Re: Bug: Status/Summary of slashdot leap-second crash on new years 2008-2009

[David Newall <davidn@davidnewall.com>]

david@lang.hm wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Jan 2009, David Newall wrote:
>
>> david@lang.hm wrote:
>>> then new zoneinfo files need to be sent out every time there is a leap
>>> second (which from other posts on this thread is potentially every
>>> month)
>>
>> Not every few months, for goodness sake!  Leap seconds aren't that
>> common!  These files do change regularly, however, sometimes on a yearly
>> basis, because that's how often the date might be changed when daylight
>> savings transitions.  This is to say that leap seconds don't
>> particularly change the frequency of zoneinfo updates.
>
> another poster said that NTP packets include information about this
> month's leap second, so that implies that they could change monthly.

Not "could change monthly" rather, "could change at any month".

The frequency of zoneinfo updates would therefore be: every time the
zones you care about change; and every time there's a leap second.  No
big effort.