Subject: Re: 'Leap Second' to Be Added on New Year's Eve This Year   
   From: Mark Lloyd    
       
   On 12/30/2016 07:48 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:   
   > Mark Lloyd  writes:   
   >> On 12/30/2016 04:37 PM, Keith Thompson wrote:   
   >>   
   >> [snip]   
   >>   
   >>> The time is stored in a time_t value returned by the time()   
   >>> function.  The time_t type is required to be a real type (integer   
   >>> or floating-point, not complex) capable of representing times.   
   >>> (On many systems it's a signed integer representing seconds since   
   >>> 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.)   
   >>   
   >> Used to be 32-bit, why I thought Y2K was going to be much less of a   
   >> problem than Y2.038K (Jan 17 2038 IIRC).   
   > [...]   
   >   
   > Tue 2038-01-19 03:14:08 UTC   
       
   I knew it was around that time, from having to deal with that when my    
   website was on a 32-bit server. IIRC the negative limit is in December 1901.   
       
   > 64-bit systems already use a 64-bit signed integer for time_t, which   
   > postpones the problem for about 292 billion years.  And since C requires   
   > long long to be at least 64 bits, I expect that 32-bit systems (and   
   > smaller ones, if any) will transition to 64-bit time_t before 2038.   
       
   2^63 = 9.22337203685e+18 seconds, or 292,277,024,627 years (assuming    
   leap year rules don't change).   
       
   > Unlike 2-digit years, I suspect that most stored time_t values (which   
   > are rarely displayed) are in files that can be converted reasonably   
   > easily.   
   >   
       
       
   --    
   Mark Lloyd   
   http://notstupid.us/   
       
   "Call on God, but row away from the rocks." [Indian proverb]   
      
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