[ntp:questions] A faster settling NTP

David J Taylor david-taylor at blueyonder.delete-this-bit.and-this-part.co.uk.invalid
Thu Dec 24 07:51:59 UTC 2009


"unruh" <unruh at wormhole.physics.ubc.ca> wrote in message 
news:slrnhj4u3f.u1s.unruh at wormhole.physics.ubc.ca...
[]
> ??? The code is NOT available on ntpd. It would require a large coding
> job to impliment the chrony algorithm into ntpd and if you knew that
> your one year worth of work would never ever make it into ntpd, why
> would you do it? To properly integrate it you have to know ntpd
> intimately, know chrony ( or at least the algorithm) intmately, and do
> the coding job.

I was able to download, and even to compile, the code for NTP, so it /is/ 
available.  I was only suggesting replacing one small part to prove a 
point.


[]
> I have no interest whatsoever in Windows, nor, I suspect,  do most of 
> the people involved with
> chrony development. It is hard then to put in the time to do it.

So the majority of the world's computer users will have no interest in 
chrony.

[]
> The basic ntp algorithm is the problem. It is not simply that one has to
> kludge on an additions "startup" algorithm. ntpd does much worse than
> chrony even in long time running because of its poor response to change
> ( like temperature changes). The algorithm ( some combination of the
> clock filter algorithm and the basic Markovian feedback loop) is simply
> an extremely slowly responding algorithm all the time. It is most
> obvious on startup but is there always. For people to hang a kludge onto
> ntpd at startup, because that is what bothers you most, is not a job
> most would want to do. You are of course free to do it yourself, but
> like most of us, you do not have the depth of knowledge of ntpd, or
> windows, or do not have the coding skills needed.

You assume far too much!  You have no idea of what coding skills or 
knowledge of OSes I may or may not have.  You have no idea about what 
bothers me most about NTP.  That anyone chooses not to spend their time 
working directly with NTP may simply reflect the priorities they have.

> Once upon a time, Richard Curnow, the author of chrony, had an interest
> in porting it to Windows. Unfortunately other aspects of life caught up
> with him (children, jobs,...) and his interest now is very small.

Is this not an open sauce project?  <G>

David 




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