Again, why can't we just bypass this whole argument by adding a configure
option? Something like --date.default_timezone="America/Los_Angeles"? It
could then build that in so it'll assume that if there's no php.ini or if
it's just not set in there. Problem solved, everybody's use-case covered.
If you build php yourself from source there is always the option to throw
(comment out) that one particular E_WARNING line ext/date/php_date.c.(that
is something I do for example for mysqlnd which complains about non-existing
character set on older sphinxsearch instances).
But if the OP is annoyed by typing "php -d date.timezone=... myfile.php"
each time he could just make an alias (or doskey in win environment).
...and in all #! headers, and in all other places. That could be a temporary bypass, not a complete solution.
l.