<i18n dev> Using system tzdata

[Dalibor Topic]

Masayoshi Okutsu wrote:
> Thank you for asking! :-) Here's the whole history on the time zone data 
> maintenance.

Thank you very much!

> Tzupdate (for 1.4+) worked. But we encountered a platform specific 
> problem with Solaris Zones. A workaround was added to the tool. But I 
> considered it as a temporary solution and proposed migration to platform 
> specific patch mechanisms to avoid software package maintenance 
> problems. We may encounter similar problems on other platforms. The 
> change proposal from Red Hat is related to this issue. That is, the 
> up2date utility on Red Hat systems should be able to be used to update 
> the tzdata files for the Java runtime. The meeting I referenced in my 
> previous message was to discuss my proposal for the migration.
> 
> Thank you for listening! So... what should be the best way to maintain 
> tzdata for Java SE installations?

 From the POV of operating system distributors that already need to 
support tzdata for other applications, and therefore need to keep it 
current anyway for their customers, I think it's preferable to rely on 
system facilities where such facilities exist, than to have to push a 
separate patch for the Java runtime.

cheers,
dalibor topic