Page 1 of 1: UNIX - Year 2038 bug

docmojo · Credits: 803 My Scrapbook

hey pals, check this wikipedia topic....

"The year 2038 problem (also known as "Unix Millennium bug", "Y2K38," "Y2K+38," or "Y2.038K" by analogy to the Y2K problem) may cause some computer software to fail before or in the year 2038. The problem affects Unix-like operating systems, which represent system time as the number of seconds (ignoring leap seconds) since 00:00:00 January 1, 1970.[1] This representation also affects software written for most other operating systems because of the broad deployment of C. On most 32-bit systems, the time_t data type used to store this second count is a signed 32-bit integer. The latest time that can be represented in this format, following the POSIX standard, is 03:14:07 UTC on Tuesday, January 19, 2038. Times beyond this moment will "wrap around" and be represented internally as a negative number, and cause programs to fail, since they will see these times not as being in 2038 but rather in 1901. Erroneous calculations and decisions may therefore result."

w w w . u n i x 2 0 3 8 . c o m

this is the first time i came across any topic which describes a negative aspect of Unix... considering most of today's servers run on Unix, this could turn out to be a serious problem...

P.S. Linux and MAC operarting systems are Unix based

BGM · Credits: 104516 My Scrapbook

29 more years are there!
So its not a big matter of concern i think.
The Y2K bug caused the same panic but nothing happened.
After 30 years the whole OS frame work will be changed.
I really doubt whether any of the current OS will survive till 2038.

docmojo · Credits: 803 My Scrapbook

yes thats very much true... but the y2k problem which caused much panic was first mentioned in 1985, a good 15 years ahead.... but still it was averted only at the brink... people weren't prepared for it well in advance...

P.S. y2k was a blessing in disguise for us, Indians... it brought our computer specialists to the fore!
hope y2k38 brings us something special too...

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