On: How Google handle leap seconds

[raldi]

I wonder why it's a cosine-based formula, rather than linear.

[shalmanese → raldi]

Cosines are smooth at every level of differentiation.

[kentonr → raldi]

Maybe they chose it because they wanted to "ease" in the change to prevent the machines from distrusting the time server?

[anothermachine → raldi]

For smoothness, I presume, to avoid a sudden change in the rate of time passage at the start and end of the day.

[raldi → anothermachine]

I don't follow -- wouldn't a linear approach yield a maximally even rate of adjustment?

[BHSPitMonkey → raldi]

No, there would be continuity breaks at the beginning and end of the window where the smear occurs if purely linear. I think the goal here is a kind of "ease-in-out" transition.