Re: [Qemu-devel] Changing RTC from UTC to local time

[Bartosz Fabianowski <bartosz@fabianowski.de>]

> On the other hand, I agree that having the possibility to change CMOS
>  time to local could be handy for those who use broken systems like 
> Microsoft Windows is.

Seems like we all agree on this. The only thing we can't agree on is
what should be the default. I believe local RTC is a sane default while
you believe it should be UTC. Really, all I care about is that I am
given the option of using local RTC if I need to. Since QEMU is not my
project and I have no commit privileges, I hope that Fabrice will pick
the way he prefers and then commit my patch - modified or unmodified.

> +1. Also imagine you boot your system in 2:30 the day when time moves
> back from 03:00 to 02:00, ie. there are two moments 02:30. Which one
> it is?

Yes, as I said many times before, a local time RTC is neither elegant
nor without problems. Neither is the A20 gate. But when emulating a PC,
you have to live with other people's bad decisions and you have to
emulate them faithfully. IBM's and later Microsoft's choice to go with a
local time RTC is something one needs to be aware of and that one needs
to emulate - not something one needs to agree with.

> My system in US always gives me right time now - it is in UTC [...]

And with my patch, there would be nothing there to keep you from doing
it like this. Just specify "-utc" on the command line and you are fine.

> You still think like Windows only user. Please stop that.

No, I am not thinking like a Windows user. I am thinking *about* Windows
users while you prefer to ignore them. Truth is, most Linux/*BSD people
are smart enough to figure out what the difference between local time
and UTC is and to decide which one they want. While, on the other hand,
most Windows people are simple end users who don't understand this
choice. To them, when the RTC runs in UTC, the clock will simply be off
by a few hours and they will have no clue why. That's why I believe
local time should be the default, with a well documented and easily
accessible option to override this default if you choose to do so.

- Bartosz