Looking for Free time zone map data

[Joel Newkirk]

On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 08:53:48 +1300, "Robin Paulson"
<robin.paulson at gmail.com> wrote:
> 2008/10/6 Jan Lübbe <jluebbe at openmoko.org>:
>> We were thinking about how to handle timezones in the FSO framework and
>> decided we would like to be able to detect the time zone automatically
>> based on the current location. I've search for a database with the
>> necessary information, but i only found a commercial provider which
>> doesn't allow redistribution.
>>
>> Does anyone have an idea how we could solve this problem?
> 
> sounds like information that could be managed in the openstreetmap
> database. it is after all geodata, and osm is pretty relaxed as to
> what info is added
> 
> if you added a key to the wiki through the usual discussion/voting
> progress and talked it up on the osm-talk mailing list, i bet you
> could have it populated very quickly, and it would be a very
> non-restrictive license
> 
> how many discrete time zones are there after all? can't be more than 100?
> 
> i understand william's reticence, but so long as the data is kept up
> to date and/or there's a way to override it, there should be no
> problems - nz dst has changed again recently and the some older phones
> have had some problems, so i know where he's coming from

This will benefit from some global configurability at some point. 
Specifically, controlling whether things 'happen' in GMT vs 'home' timezone
vs 'local' timezone (local to appointment or local to the FR's current
geospatial position) should be possible to set as a global option, then
override for example for specific appointments, etc. As well as telling the
FR whether it should auto-adjust to local timezone, display a second clock,
whatever.

Anyone who's ever tried to coordinate meetings with people on the other
side of the planet, let alone done so while themselves hopping from one
timezone to another, likely understands the need for great flexibility
here.

If I live in US eastern timezone, have an 'appointment' set for a phone
conference to Berlin at 11am Berlin time, and the night before the
appointment I travel to US pacific timezone, it should "just work" and
alert me at the appropriate time, IN BERLIN, regardless of what timezone
I'm presently in, and regardless of whether I've opted for my clock to
display 'home' timezone when I'm traveling instead of 'local' timezone of
my destination.

The trick of course, as with all such things, is to achieve this without
undue complexity for the user.

j