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remarkablemayonaise t1_iycb5nw wrote

If you ever get into a situation where there's a problem because you used the wrong one you'll know more than anyone on this sub already!

"Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is often interchanged or confused with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). But GMT is a time zone and UTC is a time standard."

There are different time standards. Some add and remove leap seconds based on the real orbit of the Earth. Others don't. All time zones follow UTC with offsets of down to 15 minutes. GMT happens to be UTC+0h00m.

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CrispyDairy OP t1_iycbnuo wrote

Ok, so that last part just means that GMT and UTC are basically the same time, just measured differently?

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boersc t1_iycd8x5 wrote

The definition is different, in practice, they are the same thing.

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Metabolical t1_iydew6x wrote

I'm waiting for reddit to chime in with all the "they are like..." similes.

They are like Sticky Notes and Post-It (tm) notes.

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ticuxdvc t1_iydy5jf wrote

It's like saying, little Timmy is 1 meter tall. Does that mean that Timmy's mom is 1.6 Timmies tall? Technically she is, but it's better practice to measure Timmy's family members in meters instead of Timmies, and say his mom is 1.6 meters tall.

GMT just happens to be UTC+0. They are "the same time", but one of them is the actual measurement tool (UTC), the other is the measurement value as measured by that tool (GMT); in the same way as a meter stick is the tool, and the 1-meter tall Timmy is the measured value.

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