[net.misc] Minor error in cal

rogerw (05/14/82)

Has anyone reported a minor  bug  in  the  ``cal''  routine?
This  isn't  of  earth-shaking consequence, at least for the
next  2018  years;  however,  the  Gregorian  calendar   has
recently  been  modified so that years divisible by 4000 are
NOT leap years.  This is not incorporated in  ``cal.''  This
makes  the  calendar  correct to one day in 20,000 years.  I
have doubts whether anyone 2000-some years  hence  will  use
the  Terran  Gregorian;  nonetheless, ``cal'' purports to be
correct through 9999 CE., and strictly speaking, it is not.
 	      --Roger Wells (teklabs!tekid!rogerw)

pavel (05/16/82)

You mentioned that "the Gregorian year has recently been changed".

By whom?  Who makes these ex deus pronouncements?  The UN?  The Vatican?
I feel as paranoid as Dunbar in Catch-22; "Who's 'they'?".

On a related question, who makes changes in the time zone definitions?  Also,
does anyone know how whoever they are got the whole world to agree on them?
(Or have they?  Maybe I'm a victim of American propaganda...)  I remember
reading an article in Scientific American a while back about the time zones.
Did anyone else read it and still have a copy?  It probably has the answers
to my questions.
	Pavel Curtis

rhm (05/18/82)

My repeated requests for source or authority or references to the
change in the Gregorian year have gone unanswered!