Another Year Closer, Linux 4.21 Getting More Preparations For Y2038 Problem

[boxie]

So instead of `int` it will now be `unsigned long long int`? Isn't there a better way to tell time than using a 1970 epoch?

yes. no. they are all terrible. time is awful.

A second is probably the best out of the lot - being an integer it is easy to work with - there is always the same number of milliseconds in a second, it's small enough, it's big enough. it doesn't take up much memory. and for operating system level stuff you probably don't need to know much else.

Caring about dates in userland though is a completely different scenario check this out for a laugh https://infiniteundo.com/post/253269...eve-about-time

[ssokolow]

So instead of `int` it will now be `unsigned long long int`? Isn't there a better way to tell time than using a 1970 epoch?

Not really, unless you want to sacrifice either precision or the ability to do common time-related calculations like "time since [timestamp]" in a simple and easy way.

[xinthose]

So instead of `int` it will now be `unsigned long long int`? Isn't there a better way to tell time than using a 1970 epoch?

[Kemosabe]

Jokes aside, it it actually worth a thought if the computing landscape can change that dramatically within the next 20 years to hypothesize that Linux and friends might not play a relevant role at this time anymore. . .













... probably NOT

[r08z]

I wouldn't worry about it since by then the kernel by itself would be deemed obsolete and would just be merged as systemd-kernel. This would be part of a much larger and more concise solution called systemdOS.

[AsuMagic]

Don't worry, kernel devs: By that time, Google will have enslaved humanity and we'll all be running Fuschia.

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Another Year Closer, Linux 4.21 Getting More Preparations For Y2038 Problem

Kernel changes continue flowing for addressing the "Year 2038" problem where on where on 19 January 2038 a signed 32-bit integer is no longer large enough for accommodating the number of seconds since 1970 as the 32-bit Unix time format...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=More-Y2038-Changes-Linux-4.21