Making /etc/localtime a symlink?

[Robert Nichols]

Stefan Neufeind wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I was wondering if, instead of currently making /etc/localtime a copy of
> the timezone to use, it would be a good idea to actually make it a
> symlink. In the (unlikely) event that information for a timezone would
> chance, updates would take effect automatically.
> 
> initial /etc/localtime: part of glibc
> e.g. /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Berlin: part of tzdata
> 
> So imho this would involve bundling /etc/localtime as a symlink in
> glibc, a dep to tzdata (there is a dep from glibc-common to tzdata) and
> adjusting installer etc. to not make copies but create symlinks.
> 
> What do others think?

It means that the system's notion of time and date will be incorrect
until /usr is mounted.  The amount of confusion caused depends on how
big your TZ's offset is from UTC and whether your hardware clock keeps
local time or UTC.  Usually it's just timestamps of bootup entries in
the log files that are affected, but if you boot in emergency mode
and try to patch up something that's wrong on your system, then you
can get some bad timestamps there as well.  Messages from tar like,
"file in archive has timestamp in the future" are a common symptom.

-- 
Bob Nichols         Yes, "NOSPAM" is really part of my email address.