Re: [chrony-dev] new feature request: add "fast" and "slow" to "clock wrong" and "clock stepped" log messages

[Bill Unruh <unruh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 The sign of that offset is already there. Ie, it could also have said
 System clock wrong by -1.693005 seconds
iIe, that report is no ambiguous about whether the clock is fast or slow. 
Of course the sentence does not indicate what convention chrony uses (ie does
the plus sign mean that the system clock is ahead or behind the true time) 
I can never remember which convetion is used but I think it is 
UTC-systemclock. 
In the tracking report, one has the terminology

System time     : 0.000062501 seconds fast of NTP time

which would not be ambigous as to the sign convention.

On Fri, 27 Oct 2017, James Feeney wrote:

> On start-up, in the log file, there are these informational messages, for instance:
>
> chronyd[622]: System clock wrong by 1.693005 seconds, adjustment started
> chronyd[622]: System clock was stepped by 1.693005 seconds
>
> Without some foreknowledge, it is unclear if the quantity "1.693005 seconds" is referring to the system clock with respect to the NTP server clock, or is referring to the NTP server clock with respect to the system clock, and so, the idea of "plus" and "minus" is ambiguous in this context.
>
> How about, rather than using the term "wrong", instead use the terms "fast" and "slow" to describe this quantity "1.693005 seconds"?  Then the log message might read:
>
> chronyd[622]: System clock fast by 1.693005 seconds, adjustment started
>
> or
>
> chronyd[622]: System clock slow by 1.693005 seconds, adjustment started
>
> Similarly, the "clock was stepped" message could include "+" and "-", or better, "forward" and "back", to clarify the "direction" of the error.  Consider:
>
> chronyd[622]: System clock was stepped back by 1.693005 seconds
>
> or
>
> chronyd[622]: System clock was stepped forward by 1.693005 seconds
>
>
> As it is now, I literally do not know whether my system clock runs fast or slow, or whether the system clock was stepped forward in time, or back in time.
>
> I'm sure that the meaning of "wrong" and "stepped" is obvious to some of you, simply because you already know how the code is written.  But the log message could make this clear to the uninitiated user.  Ha!
>
>
>
> --
> To unsubscribe email chrony-dev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the subject.
> For help email chrony-dev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with "help" in the subject.
> Trouble?  Email listmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

--
To unsubscribe email chrony-dev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the subject.
For help email chrony-dev-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with "help" in the subject.
Trouble?  Email listmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.