We embark on the djb way with clockspeed, a collection of utilities for setting and maintaining a system's time with remarkable precision.

The clockspeed package also provides a good starting point for becoming familiar with the djb way. For example, most of the packages described in later sections will follow a similar installation procedure. And clockspeed introduces a number of recurring themes found throughout the djb approach to software.

The clockspeed utilities also provide a first encounter with TAI: Temps Atomique International. Bernstein has developed a 64-bit timestamp to represent TAI, as well as a protocol for serving TAI data. We will be seeing a lot of TAI timestamps along the djb way.