4.0.3. time-of-day problem

[deckel at relay.nswc.navy.mil]

In the Read This First for SunOS 4.0.3 there is a section called "Known
Problems".  Under the subsection called "Kernel", it talks about a
time-of-day sync problem which causes the system clock to advance six
minutes a year.  It suggests a workaround in which a cron job is set up to
run each night just after midnight to reset the time of day (add 1 second
per day).  We have our server, a Sun-3/160 running 4.0.3, set up as the
timehost.  The other workstations on the network synchronize their system
clocks with the timehost using the "rdate" command.  This works just fine,
but my supervisor is complaining that the server's time is fast.  What I
need to know is:  is this update of the system clock necessary?  Has
anyone else set up their 4.0.3 machines to update the system clock in this
way?  When my supervisor talked to one of the tech reps from Sun, she said
she had never heard of this problem or this workaround.  So now he keeps
questioning whether or not it is necessary.  Any ideas or opinions would
be appreciated.

Debbie Eckel
Naval Surface Warfare Center
deckel at relay.nswc.navy.mil