> On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, OLK wrote:
>
> > Alan Cox wrote:
> > > Has POSIX yet determined what sort of second since the Epoch ?
> > How many sorts of seconds do we have, and if so which one is the right
> > one ?
>
> I thought the second was the basic metric unit of time and was defined by
> the time it takes light in a vaccume to travel some distance or sumpting..
>
Not exactly, it is referenced to an atomic transition of cesium AFAIR. The
problem is that the earth rotation is not as precise and uniform (actually
it is slowing down). And there are contradictory needs between keeping an
exact time based on the atomic reference and having the time of the day
defining Earth's orientation.
It's becoming way offtopic, so I shall not comment publicly further on
this thread.
Gabriel.
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