Subj : alternative DateTime (ref: fts-0001.016)
To : andrew clarke
From : Maurice Kinal
Date : Mon Dec 21 2020 04:46 pm
Hey andrew!
ac> This is just creating busywork for the handful of developers
ac> left (eg. me, occasionally) and new bugs for no benefit.
I am surprised nobody has criticised me over the year 9999 yet but perhaps they are all too distracted by backwards compatibilty rather than forwards compatibilty.
ac> In Fidonet you can safely assume that a two-digit year in any
ac> message is in the range of 1984-2083, given that the network
ac> began in 1984.
Actually I've brought that up before but on my systems the real problem starts on 2069 since a two digit year reports itself as 1969 which in turn will create a negative time_t;
-={ date --date="01 Jan 69" +%s }=-
-31536000
Now that is scary. Mind you I will be well over 100 years old by then and unlikely to be a nodelisted Fidonet sysop, if indeed I make it that far.
ac> 0. do nothing
ac> 1. modify the 1984-2083 window in their mail reader
ac> 2. invent a ^A control line that has the four digit year in it
ac> #1 is easiest.
I'd bet that 0. is the most likely and I including myself in that mix.
Life is good,
Maurice
... Don't cry for me I have vi.
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* Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)
