Hi Peter, Thanks for your answer. Clear, unambiguous and easy to implement. I like them that way. ;-) Yes, I am running Gentoo. I am just finished updating everything - new gcc (4.1), new kernel (2.6.18), new KDE (3.5.5) and new everything else, including JDK. When I do "date" on the command line the time is Aussie time, Sydney, as it should be. So, no problem with the system time. I'll post on the Java forums and see what they say. If I get anything back I'll post it here. I made a mistake with the time zone returned; it is not a USA zone but GMT. We are in summer time and 11 hours ahead of GMT. Thanks again. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=3996613#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...