Re: NTPD unable to adjust local clock

[Bill Hacker <wbh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Christopher Weimann wrote:

> On 04/06/2005-07:52PM, Joerg Sonnenberger wrote:
>
> > Yes, I'm very well aware of it. I'm reading the original NTP papers and
> > will do some matth myself. Once we have done that, I'd like to add the
> > ability to record the frequency in a file, similiar to what DJB's program
> > [what ever it was named] does. 
>
>
> http://cr.yp.to/clockspeed.html ?
>
> Isn't this a good alternative to ntp anyway?

So long as TCP/IP or UDP and cheap MB clocks are part of
the equation, ntpd is not (cannot be) about absolute
short-term accuracy (unfortunately).

What is does do is make it cheap (free) to sync boxen
that must agree with each other - 'accurately enough'
just by selecting the time sources and initial clock
settings carefully.

More critical needs - think currency arbitrage or
NASDAQ transaction time-stamping, may need better,
as NASA and the world's telephone companies certainly do,
and have always - see SONET/SDH and predecessors.

Those cost the very Earth to implement, distribute, and maintain.

GPS is the cheap-to-user option. As with most US-Military programs,
we may never know what it actually cost(s), other than 'not cheap'.

Bill