[UFO Chicago] Happy Billennium!

[Nick Moffitt]

begin  Elliot Shank  quotation:
> Jordan Bettis wrote:
> > Bc informs me that 1 billion seconds is about 31.7 years. That's a
> > long time, especially in the computer world, but let's make the
> > next billion seconds even better than the last!
> 
> Yeah, at the end of the next billion seconds, we'll be at the *NIX
> version of Y2K.  Anyone for reformatting their drives to get rid of
> 32-bit date values stored in the filesystem? ;]

	1e9 seconds ago, Unix ran only on a 16-bit mini that had crude
(if any) memory protection.  It had 64k of core and a fully decked-out
system might have a whopping 11MB disk pack!

	It would be sheer hubris to predict what systems may be like
1e9 seconds from now, but it is highly unlikely that they will retain
the limitations of our current systems.

	The spindles your data now live on will likely not last two
decades, and the software will probably accomodate the 2038 issue long
before then.

> If you're paying attention to the time of this email, you'll know when I
> just finished my first pass through Kohan.  Damn addictive stuff.

	Kohan?

-- 
"The only thing is certain: Russian petty computer hooligans are very
slovenly, while FBI agents are very persistent in hunting them." --Pravda
	01234567 <- The amazing* indent-o-meter! 
        ^	    (*: Indent-o-meter may not actually amaze.)