On Jul 3, 2012, at 1:09 PM, Saku Ytti wrote: > On (2012-07-03 12:46 -0700), Owen DeLong wrote: > >> If you don't know that time is not monotonically increasing, then that only >> becomes a software bug when you codify your own ignorance into software you >> write. > > If only all software could be ordered from you Owen, but in practice this > is not possible. Some code will be written less intelligent people. And > reviewing any code doing foo = timestamp+offset and if now > foo, virtually > never expects time to move backwards.
Sure, but even with that, 99% of it has only a passing 'interesting' effect and then recovers. > UTC doesn't move backwards (it goes 59 -> 60 -> 00). TAI does not move > backwards. Unixtime moves backwards, like spanish inquisition no one > expects that. UTC (and the system clock) should not move backwards, but, rather they repeat second 59. UTC goes 58->59->00 most of the time, but during a leap second, it should go 58->59->59->00). It's not so much going backwards as dropping a chime. >> It is well known that leap seconds exist. > > Quite. But it is not well known that unixtime travels backwards. > In part because it shouldn't actually do so. It should simply chime 59 twice. Owen
