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> Our timezones are often wider than an hour.

The handling of timezones and of leap-seconds are orthogonal problems, arising from distinct causes. Leap-seconds are a response to the desire to synchronise an atomic timescale with the uneven rotation of the Earth; timezones (and DST) are strictly a political problem.

Politicians often don't understand the consequences of timezone changes; they often introduce them without giving enough time for people to update their timezone database - sometimes just a few days. The result is that the new timezone is nothing more than a political gesture, because hardly anyone is using it.



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