Quoting Andreas Messer (andi@???):

> This problem has no relation to the existence of a hardware RTC or not.
> On Linux, the hardware RTC is in almost any case only read when the system
> boots/resumes and updated on system shutdown/sleep. During operation,
> Linux always uses a software RTC. (Otherwise system would be very slow,
> since accessing a hardware RTC is time consuming operation)
>
> The point with RPi is, that it has no RTC and thus can not restore
> current time on boot/resume. Thus in order to get the current time,
> an RPi must use some kind of NTP protocol. (And needs connection to
> a time server)

Thank you for clarifying that, Andreas. I really had no idea that
conventional PC systems read the RTC only at boot time, or why -- but
your explanation makes total sense.

-- 
Cheers,                     "It's still magic even if you know how it's done."
Rick Moen                           -- Terry Pratchett, _A Hat Full of Sky_
rick@??? 
McQ! (4x80)