The Year 2038 Problem

From searches, this was talked about back in 2006. That thread quickly devolved.

Source: Wikipedia

The Year 2038 problem is an issue for computing and data storage situations in which time values are stored or calculated as a signed 32-bit integer, and this number is interpreted as the number of seconds since 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970 (the epoch).[1] Such implementations cannot encode times after 03:14:07 UTC on 19 January 2038, a problem similar to but not entirely analogous to the Y2K problem (also known as the Millennium Bug), in which 2-digit values representing the number of years since 1900 could not encode the year 2000 or later. Most 32-bit Unix-like systems store and manipulate time in this Unix time format, so the year 2038 problem is sometimes referred to as the Unix Millennium Bug by association.

This is less of a problem and more of a nuisance in that computer-related services aren't thinking far enough into the future and ensuring the architecture can support the coming weight. Virality has exploded in recent years, so I'll allow some leeway in that no one could really predict 40 years ago how intense that would become when it was still just a shadow of a thought in Steve Jobs head. At this point though, there needs to be serious consideration put into the fact that we're planning on submitting our entire lives to computer control (ie self-driving cars, money, etc) and we have problems like this, Intel's processor vulnerabilities, et al.

Would you rather be cautious or let a "Digital" Darwin take the wheel?

a reply to: wtfatta

Well it's a surprise to no one that we need a plan B.

There needs to be a serious discussion about the way we approach computing, at this rate Moore's law will eventually plateau, binary computation and fiber optics will need an overhaul (the latter will disserve Australia in the years to come) but maybe the greatest threat is that glowing orb in the sky-the sun. There are god knows how many telco satellites orbit our planet and if the sun throws a tantrum...

But my biggest fear is we are moving towards a cashless society and that means more money is being exchanged online, which means more people will be susceptible to hacks.

Who runs a 32-bit Unix platform? Anyone?

a reply to: wtfatta

by statistical definition, this couldn't happen a second time

originally posted by: Tempter
Who runs a 32-bit Unix platform? Anyone?

I bet you'd be surprised to find how many 32 bit systems are around you still- but in another ten years... not so much.

Microsoft have said that the fix for their systems has been made...somewhat.

"Basically, if you run a 64-bit OS, and your applications are compiled with Visual Studio 8 or later for the 64-bit architecture, the 2038 problem is fixed by default." So says Bill Karwin, who develops Squirrels a lot

www.quora.com...

It's a problem for me ...sort of since I presently have windows XPVRPro, so I will need a complete new set-up, but mainly because I will have sniffed it and died, (as my son calls it) by then.

originally posted by: Tempter
Who runs a 32-bit Unix platform? Anyone?

The OP source says it's in embedded systems designed to last the life of the product such as ABS braking systems in vehicles or aircraft guidance systems. It's not much of a concern with separate computers.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
a reply to: wtfatta

by statistical definition, this couldn't happen a second time

Even if you run a 64 bit system, the same type of problem will happen all over again 292 billion years from now, at 15:30:08 UTC on Sunday, 4 December 292,277,026,596, so you better upgrade to at least a 128 bit system before then.

a reply to: wtfatta

Essentially it sounds like the Y2K scare, rehashed for a later date.. amiright?

a reply to: wtfatta

Well, I have no idea how to fix this short term issue, between now and 2038, but I will say that from now, all computers and software ought to be built in such a way that the time and date fields can run till the heat death of the universe, without any problems like this arising again.

Umm 2018 now so 20 years from now . Ok so how many 20 year old pc still around ?
you realize by that time 0101010101010 will no longer be in use as quantum computers gain main stream 64 bit 124 bit lol
thous computers wont be using a bit of anything .

New computer tearm coined Mega chunks lol ( sounds like the computer is puking lol .

originally posted by: midnightstar
Umm 2018 now so 20 years from now . Ok so how many 20 year old pc still around ?
you realize by that time 0101010101010 will no longer be in use as quantum computers gain main stream 64 bit 124 bit lol
thous computers wont be using a bit of anything .

New computer tearm coined Mega chunks lol ( sounds like the computer is puking lol .

The car I drove into work today is 33 years old- and it's got a factory computer.

I'd wager there are cars coming off the line today with this problem built in.
I bet there are building hvac systems being installed right now with this problem.

Computers are everywhere.

Yeah, it won't be the biggest problem we've seen... but I'm sure it'll catch a whole industry off guard.

I hereby declare, that on January 1, 2038, 03:14:48, shall now reset to year 0000, with a time of 00:00:00, and shall be referred to as the Year of the Gnat.

Dilly dilly!!!

originally posted by: Tempter
Who runs a 32-bit Unix platform? Anyone?

Now? Quite a few are still chugging away out there.

in 2038? There may be a few in museums, or rotting in landfills.

When writing software I find this issue some times crops up, if you want your software to be future proof you need to account for this. The main problem here will not really be the time stored by operating systems, by 2038 all operating systems will be using 64 bit values to store the time, they don't even need to be 64 bit systems. The real problem will be in all the software which only uses a 32 bit integer or uses a function which only returns a 32 bit integer when getting the time.

I believe this will actually be quite a large issue because countless different programs use 32 bit integers to hold a time value. There may be several reasons why that is the case, maybe the programmer just wasn't experienced enough to realize this was an issue, maybe the programming language they were using wouldn't easily allow them to get the time in a 64 bit format, from experience I know it's not the easiest thing to do properly in C++.

The point is, every single program which relies on the time for something important will fail on 2038 if they're using a 32 bit integer to store the time. Even if most of the software is patched I'm sure many people will still be running old software for critical tasks just because it's stable and has always worked for them. It will definitely cause many more problems than what happened on Y2K. A lot of websites will probably have problems too if they are coded wrong or their database stores 32 bit timestamps.

I'm still tired from dodging all of those planes that fell out of the sky after midnight on January 1, 2000.

I remember Y2K nothing became of it obviously, but I also remember listening to John Titor on Coast to Coast. Funny you posted because Titor, real or not, mentions travelling from 2034 after devistation has reared it's head. Might mean nothing at all, I just found it of interest in relation to your story.

Titor first popped up on July 29 1998, through two faxes sent to Art Bell, host of the overnight talk show Coast to Coast AM. The faxes tell of the discovery of time travel in 2034 and devastation following the Y2K disaster. Art Bell reads the second of the two faxes on air: Let me explain, Mr. Bell. I sent a fax with this opening on July 29 1998. As I said then I am a time traveler. I have been on this world line since April of this year and I plan to leave soon. Typically time travelers do not purposely affect the world lines they visit. However this mission is unusually long and I've grown attached to some of the people I have met here.

a reply to: wtfatta

one of your links to titor's comments on this are broken heres an archive of it goo.gl...

a reply to: BotheLumberJack



oddly just had to make this same reply to someone else in a different thread, lot of y2k ignorance around here...

y2k was a real thing, it did happen, hydro dams lost function almost burst, hospitals lost power, life support systems failed, people died. y2k was indeed a real event,

it was only due to the over hyping of the event that majority of systems had been retrofitted to survive the change over, had that not happened the outcome would have been devastating, but due to those efforts the amount of systems effected was minimal though still numerous,

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: wtfatta

Essentially it sounds like the Y2K scare, rehashed for a later date.. amiright?

Yesereebob..... Exactly like it.

a reply to: wtfatta

The singularity is approaching.

We will either embrace the digital universe and all it has to offer or become extinct having served our species biological purpose.

Like you suggest though, there is no way 40 years ago anyone could predict just how much of an impact computing would have on the information age in which we now exist.

Cant make an Omelette without breaking a few eggs, unfortunately, us Humans are the eggs.

In 20 years, I'll get right on it!