What's amazing is that if your computer is not set to automatically sync its time, you can see how fast it's drifting.
My main desktop is 1.7 seconds ahead at the moment. Probably haven't updated the clock in a few weeks: which isn't that much. Other systems shall drift much more.
As to "why" it's not setting the time using NTP automatically: maybe I like to see how quickly it drifts, maybe I want as little services running as possible, maybe I've got an ethernet switch right in front of me which better not blink too much, maybe I like to be reminded of what "breaks" once the clocks drifts too much, maybe I want to actually reflect at the marvel of atomic drift when I "manually" update it, etc. Basically the "why" is answered by: "because I want it that way".
Anyway: many computer's internal clock/crystal/whatever-thinggamagic are not precise at all.
My main desktop is 1.7 seconds ahead at the moment. Probably haven't updated the clock in a few weeks: which isn't that much. Other systems shall drift much more.
As to "why" it's not setting the time using NTP automatically: maybe I like to see how quickly it drifts, maybe I want as little services running as possible, maybe I've got an ethernet switch right in front of me which better not blink too much, maybe I like to be reminded of what "breaks" once the clocks drifts too much, maybe I want to actually reflect at the marvel of atomic drift when I "manually" update it, etc. Basically the "why" is answered by: "because I want it that way".
Anyway: many computer's internal clock/crystal/whatever-thinggamagic are not precise at all.