Frank Burton wrote: > I found this article surfing ... > This is ancient news, and you should not lose any sleep over it. All unix-like systems keep track of time and date in a variable type called time_t, which at the moment happens to be 32 bits wide. The value is in seconds since 12/31/1970, and it will overflow the 32 bit limit in 2038. So, two questions: 1. Where will you be in 2038? I'll probably be in a Better Place [TM], so I won't care. :-) However, in case I'm still hacking worldly systems, then I can still (with the rest of you) take comfort in Question #2: 2. Where will computers be in 2038? They'll all have had their software recompiled for 64-bit hardware, which of course is already appearing on the scene. And part of this conversion will be that time_t, currently defined as "long" (32 bits) on most systems, will be redefined as being a 64 bit value. A 64-bit time_t value would mean that we could all relax for the next several million years or so, I guess. Of course, nothing is quite that simple. There will be software out there in which time_t values have been stored into variables explicitly typed as "long", for example. Those programs will break, because they were simply wrong from the start. But that is at the application level. As the Big Day approaches, you can expect a final flurry of activity in which all programs are examined for The 2038 Bug. But these bugs will be exceedingly easy to identify, easier than the ramifications and bad assumptions that were involved in the Y2K thing. And Y2K remediation amazed most of us by getting done right, so I'm sure 2038 will go just fine with just a couple of minor bumps. I was providing for Y2K back in 1980, and we have a full 30 years for the Next One, with a higher level of awareness. And of course some old systems will have to be phased out; but at the rate systems are replaced nowadays, I doubt there will be many left that suffer from this limitation. Fear not. Vic --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss