PLEASE set your timezone, clock, date correctly

[Brett Dikeman]

At 10:50 PM -0800 1/18/02, urq wrote:
>  > PLEASE, please please set your clocks and timezones properly.
>
>I imagine this request was intended to address the bizarre ordering of
>messages in the archives ...

Not my first consideration, no.  It was more the messages that appear
as the most recent message for hours(or days) because the time,
timezone or date is set wrong.  I've taken to deleting them without
even looking at the message unless the subject really grips me.


>... as has been suggested before ... it *is* possible to set up the mailman
>server to set the date and time of the postings it sends out to be the time
>at which the message was resent ... this will ensure the proper sequencing
>of the files in the archives ... as well as prevent the creation of archives
>for years that are still afar off (2004?, 2007???).  The lists that I am
>adminning on audifans are set up this way ...

Could be set up that way, yes, but this will cause more problems when
there is a problem with mail delivery; the message's time will get
reset as when the list server actually received the email.  That
could -really- screw up thread order etc.  Normally, if we turn off
mail delivery for half an hour to fix something, mail just piles up
at people's ISPs, we flip the switch, all that mail pours in, like
nothing happened.

>Even if everyone sets their computer clocks to the proper time in their area
>you will see resequencing in the archives if the clock on the poster's
>computer is used ... "How did that lister in Hawaii respond to that post
>from Europe before it was initially posted???"

Not true.  The archive program takes time zones into account and also
displays them with each message.

Brett
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