[iam-TJ]

  $ systemctl cat public-inbox-watch@.timer
  # /etc/systemd/system/public-inbox-watch@.timer
  [Unit]
  Description=Periodic fetch of public mailing list

  [Timer]
  # twice a day
  OnCalendar=*-*-* 5,17:35
  RandomizedDelaySec=1h
  Persistent=true

  [Install]
  WantedBy=multi-user.target

[PenguinCoder]

So the `OnCalendar` stanza is the same as a Cron job; without the helpful comments of the ordering? And that is considered _easier_??

Just use Cron. It does one thing and does it well.

[paradox460]

The systemd one supports timezones. You can say America/Denver and the like, or Etc/UTC

[simoncion]

1) Your production equipment doesn't have its TZ set to UTC? Enjoy dealing with the intermittent and irregular hassle of DST changes, I guess.

2) From the crontab(5) on my system:

  The  CRON_TZ  variable specifies the time zone specific for the cron ta‐
  ble.  The user should enter a time according to the specified time  zone
  into the table.  The time used for writing into a log file is taken from
  the local time zone, where the daemon is running.

If you have a job you need scheduled in a different timezone, dump a new file in /etc/cron.d, alter its CRON_TZ variable and go to town, as it were.

[eqvinox]

I, er, what? It's... the same as cron? I'm confused now. It's not exactly the same, I guess?