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Re: 9/9/99

To: "Harlan Jillson" <hjillson@argohouston.com>,
Subject: Re: 9/9/99
From: Larry Macy <macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 21:00:34 -0400
Interesting as I just installed a software license for a program on a Sun 
station with an expiration date 0f 20381231 or Dec 31, 2038. The license 
was issued with no knowledge of the OS version on the Sun. (Solaris 7 for 
those that are interested).

And in case any one wants to know the date of 1/1/1970 was picked as 1970 
was the "birth" year for UNIX. 

Larry

>>>>On 9/9/99 10:06 AM so and so (Harlan Jillson) said. (And I quote:)

>James,
>   Unix time is calculate from the number of seconds elapse since midnight 
>Jan. 1 1970.  The number is stored as a signed 4 byte integer ( why it's 
>signed I don't know as it looses half of its range), and the time number 
>will overflow sometime in 2038.  This from 31557600 seconds per year ( 
>with a 1/4 day for leaps), 2147483648 as the largest positive number that 
>can be held in a 4 byte interger.  Comes up 68.049+ years, or 1970 + 
>68.049 = 2038.049 or somewhere around the 18th of Jan. 2038.
>H.
>
>
>---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
>From: James Nazarian Jr <James.Nazarian@Colorado.EDU>
>Reply-To: James Nazarian Jr <James.Nazarian@Colorado.EDU>
>Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 12:19:48 -0600 (MDT)
>
>>9/9/99 is the end of Unix time.  Unix has a counter that counts seconds
>since it was first started I don't know how many years ago.  on 9/9/99 the
>size alloted for the counter will be filled and unix will stop (assuming
>it was never upgraded to fix this problem.
>
>James Nazarian
>'71 B roadster
>'74 BGT bastardization with big aluminum heart :)
>'63 Buick 215 cubic inch 'heart'
>
>On Wed, 8 Sep 1999, Dave Houser wrote:
>
>> Friends,
>> As I sign off tonite, I'm reminded that my birthday tomorrow has a
>> special meaning in the old computer code leading to possible Y2K probs. 
>> At 9/9/99, programs were scheduled to stop. Is this so?
>> Thanks goodness, there's no chips in my MGs.
>> Cheers,
>> Dave Houser
>> 
>


Larry Macy
78 Midget

Keep your top down and your chin up.

Larry B. Macy, Ph.D.
macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu
System Manager/Administrator
Neuropsychiatry Section
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce St. - 10 Gates
Philadelphia, PA 19104

In a world without walls or fences, what use do we have for windows or 
gates?


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