/etc/localtime zoneinfo file is not updated or even created based on the settings in /etc/conf.d/clock. Is this not the purpose of this variable? This is observable by setting TIMEZONE in /etc/conf.d/clock;rm /etc/localtime; reboot or /etc/init.d/clock restart. No /etc/localtime file will be created. I suspect that this has been the situation for sometime, if not forever, as I am in the habit of creating /etc/localtime as a symlink during install. Reproducible: Always ipp004 ~ # emerge --info Portage 2.1.2.9 (!../usr/portage/profiles/default-linux/amd64/2007.0, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.5-r3, 2.6.22-gentoo x86_64) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.22-gentoo x86_64 Dual-Core AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 2220 Gentoo Base System release 1.12.9 Timestamp of tree: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:00:01 +0000 distcc 2.18.3 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (protocols 1 and 2) (default port 3632) [disabled] ccache version 2.4 [enabled] dev-java/java-config: 1.3.7, 2.0.33-r1 dev-lang/python: 2.4.4-r4 dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r5 dev-util/ccache: 2.4-r7 sys-apps/sandbox: 1.2.17 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.61 sys-devel/automake: 1.10 sys-devel/binutils: 2.17 sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.3.16 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.23b virtual/os-headers: 2.6.17-r2 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64" AUTOCLEAN="yes" CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=k8" CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/3.5/env /usr/kde/3.5/share/config /usr/kde/3.5/shutdown /usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/config /usr/share/genkernel" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/gconf /etc/init.d /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/terminfo /etc/texmf/web2c" CXXFLAGS="-O2 -pipe -march=k8" DISTDIR="/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="ccache distlocks metadata-transfer parallel-fetch sandbox sfperms strict suidctl userfetch userpriv usersandbox" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo" MAKEOPTS="-j5" PKGDIR="/data/portage/packages" PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --delete-after --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages --filter=H_**/files/digest-*" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/data/portage" PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/data/portage_overlay" SYNC="rsync://gentoo.ifa.hawaii.edu/gentoo-portage-ipp" USE="X acl acpi amd64 apache2 bash-completion berkdb bitmap-fonts cli cracklib crypt cups dri firefox fontconfig fortran gdbm gif gnome gnome2 gnutls gpm graphviz gtk gtk2 iconv imap ipv6 isdnlog jbig jpeg jpeg2k lcms libg++ mbox midi mmx mpeg mudflap ncurses nfs nls nptl openmp pam pcre perl pic png pppd python readline reflection samba session spl sse sse2 ssl svg sysfs tcpd tiff truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts unicode vim-with-x xattr xinerama xorg xpm xv zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" ELIBC="glibc" INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse evdev" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="r128 radeon nv vga" Unset: CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, LINGUAS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS
yes it is ... the timezone-data package [rightly] takes care of updating /etc/localtime
