Please donate to keep Network Time Protocol up – Goal 1k

Why is research into the protocol useful. Isn't it done?

Time is hard, time synchronization is arguably harder.

The project isn't about research it's about creating a reference implementation

We keep coming up with new ways to use it: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20240011919

> The NTP Project conducts Research and Development in NTP, a protocol designed to synchronize the clocks of computers over a network to a common timebase.

Research is put front and centre in their pitch for funding.

What's the distinction from NIST's internet time service?

This is probably research into protocol for time sync. Which works well for some scenarios, but not yet for others and can improve the reference implementation (I guess; I have no hard knowledge there).

And given that ntp.org runs servers that so many organizations use they should be near the top of the funding queue for any NTP research. My 2c.

It's telling that we can appropriate millions of dollars to transport a decommissioned shuttle from a museum in Virginia to Texas, but NASA can't pitch in the cost of one tank of diesel to the people maintaining what this article claims to be a mission-critical tool?

Don’t think you deserve these downvotes. That was my reaction too. Perhaps they’re coming from people who believe that the money is to support running of time servers (which, to be fair, “Please donate to keep the Network Time Protocol up” certainly implies…)

I too would be interested in knowing what the Network Time Foundation is researching, and I think conversation about that is appropriate here. NTP certainly _seems_ like it’s been ‘good enough’ for decades to an uninformed observer, and discussing if and why it’s not would be interesting (and perhaps motivate donations!)

The claim is false.