Linux Is Not Y2K(38) Compliant!

Remember the impact the Y2K bug had? Well there’s a similar problem “just around the corner” for UNIX-based programs and UNIX-like operating systems. When storing dates, UNIX uses a 4-byte integer to represent the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970 12:00:00. For example, a date of 120 is equivalent to January 1, 1970 12:02:00.

Yes, you’re already one step ahead of me and are chorusing that even 4-byte integers have limits on the size of numbers (i.e. seconds after a certain midday in 1970) they can hold. The maximum value possible is 2,146,483,547 – which is equivalent to January 19, 2038 3:14:07.

Y2K meant big bucks for contractors in the 1990′s. I wonder whether 2038 is going to offer similarly lucrative opportunities. If you don’t know UNIX, you have 28 years to retrain!