time: LoadLocation doesn't work on Linux if tzdata dependency not installed

[quenbyako]

What version of Go are you using (go version)?

go version go1.12.7 linux/amd64

Does this issue reproduce with the latest release?

Yeup, on all go versions

What operating system and processor architecture are you using (go env)?

go env Output

GOARCH="amd64"
GOBIN=""
GOCACHE="/home/ololosha228/.cache/go-build"
GOEXE=""
GOFLAGS=""
GOHOSTARCH="amd64"
GOHOSTOS="linux"
GOOS="linux"
GOPATH="/home/ololosha228/go"
GOPROXY=""
GORACE=""
GOROOT="/usr/local/go"
GOTMPDIR=""
GOTOOLDIR="/usr/local/go/pkg/tool/linux_amd64"
GCCGO="gccgo"
CC="gcc"
CXX="g++"
CGO_ENABLED="1"
GOMOD=""
CGO_CFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_CPPFLAGS=""
CGO_CXXFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_FFLAGS="-g -O2"
CGO_LDFLAGS="-g -O2"
PKG_CONFIG="pkg-config"
GOGCCFLAGS="-fPIC -m64 -pthread -fmessage-length=0 -fdebug-prefix-map=/tmp/go-build504687575=/tmp/go-build -gno-record-gcc-switches"

What did you do?

Absolutely same thing as in #21881 (code example). Problem is that zoneinfo is so large for packing it in binary file (800kb). But: as on windows, zone info package is not required for any Linux distro.

How did i found this issue: when you packing your go binary even with -ldflags '-d -s -w' (static build for non-libc distros), using time.LoadLocation() always require tzdata dependency. This is awful, when you trying to pack your app in docker images without package manager (busybox, custom enterprise images). That's bad behavior.

Actually, same problem is with net/http, when you try to connect using tls/ssl. but with https problem is explainable: ssl certificates updates often.

What did you expect to see?

Working example on pure linux system. Basically i expect to see way to manage this issue.

What did you see instead?

Program doesn't working 🙃

[ianlancetaylor]

I've filed #38017 as a proposal for a time/tzdata package. Please comment or emoji vote there about this idea. Thanks.

[gopherbot]

Change https://golang.org/cl/224588 mentions this issue: time/tzdata: new package

[leighmcculloch]

Does anyone know how non-Go problems address this issue on Linux distributions?

[quenbyako]

@leighmcculloch it IS go problem, cause time package forcely load data from constant directory path, and you can't change it. This issue not about go as language, but go as stdlib.

So, yes, this problem is related to go as it could be.

[quenbyako]

@andybons could you please add ExpertNeeded and OS-Linux labels to this issue?

[ianlancetaylor]

@ololosha228 That doesn't really answer @leighmcculloch 's question, though. It seems like a good question to me.

I'll add the OS-Linux label but I'm not clear on why this is ExpertNeeded.

[dmitshur]

Re-opening as CL 224588 was rolled back in CL 228200.

[gopherbot]

Change https://golang.org/cl/228101 mentions this issue: time/tzdata: new package