.. title: Undertime - Matching Up Time Zones
.. slug: undertime
.. date: 2019-11-26 20:02:53 UTC+01:00
.. tags: linux, python, meeting, tools
.. category: 
.. link: 
.. description: 
.. type: text

.. image:: /images/multiple-time-zone-clocks.jpg
   :align: center
   :width: 300
   :alt: Multiple Timezone Clocks

Occasionally I need to setup teleconferences with people in different
time zones.  For two timezones I am still able to do the calculations
and assessment of the possibilities in my head.  However, once three
or more timezones are involved, I find myself requiring some
assistance.

Already a while ago I found the neat little Python script `undertime
<https://gitlab.com/anarcat/undertime>`_ which is very easy to use.


.. TEASER_END

Say for example I want to setup a call for a final synchronization
before going into Christmas holiday between persons in Los
Angeles, New York and myself I could easy visualize the opportunities
with this simple call

.. image:: /images/undertime-sample1.png
   :align: center
   :alt: Undertime Example Call

The warning simply informs me that undertime will always consider my
current timezone, so the first argument "Berlin" was in fact
redundant.  The program is reasonably good at guessing the time zones
in question, but if in doubt "undertime --print-zones" lists the
available repertoire.

By using the "--date" argument I explicitly requested a
specific day to be considered.  Without that argument, undertime would
consider the current date and this could be a problem if the meeting
is close to a daylight savings boundary.  So to be on the safe side it
is wise to use this argument.

People using Debian 10 (Buster) or newer can install the program
easily like this:

.. code-block:: console

  dzu@krikkit:~$ sudo apt install undertime
  Reading package lists... Done
  Building dependency tree       
  Reading state information... Done
  The following NEW packages will be installed:
    undertime
  0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
  Need to get 31.8 kB of archives.
  After this operation, 93.2 kB of additional disk space will be used.
  Get:1 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 undertime all 1.7.0 [31.8 kB]
  Fetched 31.8 kB in 0s (361 kB/s)     
  Selecting previously unselected package undertime.
  (Reading database ... 292416 files and directories currently installed.)
  Preparing to unpack .../undertime_1.7.0_all.deb ...
  Unpacking undertime (1.7.0) ...
  Setting up undertime (1.7.0) ...
  Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.5-2) ...
  dzu@krikkit:~$