Found more inconsistencies introduced by pre-1970 timezones. I will attach a set of v2 debdiffs to address those as well.
** Patch added: "tzdata_2023c-0ubuntu0.22.10.2_v2.debdiff" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tzdata/+bug/772024/+attachment/5668963/+files/tzdata_2023c-0ubuntu0.22.10.2_v2.debdiff -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to tzdata in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/772024 Title: tzdata update keeps changing my timezone Status in tzdata package in Ubuntu: Fix Released Status in tzdata source package in Bionic: New Status in tzdata source package in Focal: New Status in tzdata source package in Jammy: New Status in tzdata source package in Kinetic: New Status in tzdata package in Debian: Fix Released Bug description: [ Impact ] Users can select some time zones in debconf that the tzdata debconf script will replace on the next run. See "Original report" for more explanation. Either those time zones should not be selectable in debconf or they should not be replaced. [ Test Plan ] Select US/Central as time zone and run dpkg-reconfigure: ``` sudo ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Central /etc/localtime echo "US/Central" | sudo tee /etc/timezone sudo dpkg-reconfigure -fnoninteractive tzdata ``` The output of dpkg-reconfigure should say that the current default time zone is still US/Central. Besides this manual test, test_timezone_conversions is backported to check that there are no timezones which can be selected, but will be converted. [ Where problems could occur ] Besides added tests, the debconf part of tzdata is touched and could cause issues. The change does not touch the actual timezones. [ Original report ] Other than the fact that Chicago, Illinois is in US Central Timezone, I have no relationship to Chicago. I am not in Chicago. I do not want to be in Chicago. I am in the Central Timezone. I am physically closer to other cities mentioned in tzdata. Selecting America/Chicago versus US/Central is not easier for me nor is it more intuitive. I understand that the upstream tzdata package goes a long way in documenting all of the weirdness associated with timezones and different localities' treatment of timezones and daylight "savings" time. However, from an end-user perspective, the distribution should place no special importance or preference on one timezone specification or another. Likewise, if a user chooses a timezone, the system should never change it. To reproduce the issue: # Manually select US/Central me@ubuntu:~$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata [sudo] password for me: Current default time zone: 'US/Central' Local time is now: Wed Apr 27 16:05:02 CDT 2011. Universal Time is now: Wed Apr 27 21:05:02 UTC 2011. # Validation that selection was accepted me@ubuntu:~$ cat /etc/timezone US/Central me@ubuntu:~$ md5sum /etc/localtime /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Central 6540624294b1193e22ed7a15692f2de7 /etc/localtime 6540624294b1193e22ed7a15692f2de7 /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Central me@ubuntu:~$ debconf-show tzdata debconf: DbDriver "passwords" warning: could not open /var/cache/debconf/passwords.dat: Permission denied tzdata/Zones/Australia: * tzdata/Zones/US: Central tzdata/Zones/Asia: * tzdata/Zones/Etc: UTC tzdata/Zones/SystemV: tzdata/Zones/Arctic: tzdata/Zones/Pacific: tzdata/Zones/Antarctica: tzdata/Zones/Europe: tzdata/Zones/Africa: * tzdata/Zones/America: Chicago * tzdata/Areas: US tzdata/Zones/Atlantic: tzdata/Zones/Indian: # Force the package to reinstall me@ubuntu:~$ aptitude reinstall tzdata The following packages will be REINSTALLED: tzdata 0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 0 B/658 kB of archives. After unpacking 0 B will be used. Preconfiguring packages ... (Reading database ... 168356 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to replace tzdata 2011g-0ubuntu0.11.04 (using .../tzdata_2011g-0ubuntu0.11.04_all.deb) ... Unpacking replacement tzdata ... Setting up tzdata (2011g-0ubuntu0.11.04) ... Current default time zone: 'America/Chicago' Local time is now: Wed Apr 27 16:05:22 CDT 2011. Universal Time is now: Wed Apr 27 21:05:22 UTC 2011. Run 'dpkg-reconfigure tzdata' if you wish to change it. # Now previous indicators are reset to America/Chicago instead of US/Central ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04 Package: tzdata 2011g-0ubuntu0.11.04 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2 Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64 Architecture: amd64 Date: Wed Apr 27 15:54:33 2011 InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007) PackageArchitecture: all ProcEnviron: SHELL=/bin/bash PATH=(custom, user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=en_US:en SourcePackage: tzdata UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-04-10 (17 days ago) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tzdata/+bug/772024/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
