Frank Burton wrote:
> I found this article surfing ...
> <http://us.rediff.com/money/2005/may/06linux.htm>
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
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