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SubjectRe: time_t size: The year 2038 bug?
On Wed, Jan 05, 2000 at 06:55:11PM -0600, Bill Wendling wrote:
>
> So, I'm simply saying that, while looking into my crystal ball, the vast
> majority of people in 2038 will be running 64-bit machines and that OS
> support for 32-bit machines will hold the similar facination that support
> for 16-bit machines does today.
>

Well then let me peer into my crystal ball:

The vast majority of people will use _NO_ dedicated computer systems,
they happen to be part of the environment: small embedded system tailored
for a specific purpose (like climate control or audio/video decoding)
which will work together over a network. For those who need all purpose
computing power, they will simply rent them like you might rent a car today.

> Support for embedded systems is another matter. From what I understand
> about embedded systems (which isn't all that great yet), you need a
> special OS for them. If an ES needs to tell the time after 2038 and is
> still running a 32-bit processor, then perhaps they should patch the
> kernel themselves or recalculate the epoch (which has been suggested
> before)?

The point being that Linux is right now used for embedded systems like
MP3 players for your car, IP telephone or climate controller for your house
just because it fits all the requirements: cheap, available and runs on
commodity hardware. So Linux will be around in 2038 as OS for embedded
systems of all kind.

Let me point you to one thing: last year a german court ruled that a company
had to fix the environment control system of a computing facility built around
1991 which was not Y2K safe. Why? The court argued that those systems are
typically in use for over 15 years, so that the customer in 1991 could expect
a y2k save system. True, 2038 is further ahead than 15 years, but...

Yours,
Dominik Kubla

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