There has been a request to ensure that tools that operate with
a periodic timer do so with the possibility of aligning to the
edge of the real-time clock. In other words, in addition to
ensuring that samples are taken N seconds or milliseconds apart,
those samples should be taken at moments aligned with
epoch+(integer-multiple-of-N) edges.
For example, 60-second samples for pmlogger should be taken
exactly on minute boundaries (at least as an option). The same
considerations apply to many other periodic tools like pmval.
It would also cure the possibility of gradual drift due to some
tools doing naive sleep($interval) operations between samples
(failing to account for elapsed processing time).
Benefit would include direct comparability of values from
different tools/logs, reduced dependence on interpolation
approximations.