I understand that getDate("local") retrieves the computer time, but this is not ideal in-simulation, especially from a scripting standpoint. In a script, I need to know the correct clock time for the simulation location and the correct UTC in order to calculate the correct time offset for the sim location. If my in-sim location is set different than my computer clock, this gives an incorrect time offset. I figured out a workaround, but I shouldn't need one for retrieving the time offset of the in-sim location.
Ideally, getDate("local") should get the in-sim location date and time. I would suggest changing getDate("local") to this behavior, and adding getDate("computer") to perform the existing behavior.
Source: https://sourceforge.net/projects/stellarium/forums/forum/278769/topic/5297334
getDate("local") gives the local in-sim date and time.