New warnings are out about a new computer bug, similar to the millennium bug that will affect all Unix-based computer systems. "Exerts" say that when it activates in 2038, the Internet will end.
The bug, now known as the "2038 bug" will happen due to a problem with the way that Unix-based computers keep time.
ReadWriteWeb sums the problem up by saying
The bug, being dubbed the "2038 bug," arises because Unix-based systems store the time as a signed 32-bit integer, in seconds, from midnight on January 1 1970. And the latest time that can be represented in that format, by the Posix standard, is 3:14 AM on January 19, 2038. After that, times will wrap around and be represented as a negative number.
According to the
2038 bug website all computers suffer from a certain critical limitation.
Most programs work out their dates from a perpetual second counter - 86400 seconds per day counting from Jan 1 1970. A recent milestone was Sep 9 2001, where this value wrapped from 999'999'999 seconds to 1'000'000'000 seconds. Very few programs anywhere store time as a 9 digit number, and therefore this was not a problem.
Although most susceptible machines will be out of use before 2038 some legacy systems could still be affected, including process control computers, space probe computers, embedded systems in traffic light controllers, navigation systems, routers, gas pumps, etc.
The
2038 bug website has posted a demo to see how it happens.
They are also
making recommendations to developers so that they can avoid the problem.
So enjoy it while you can folks. We have 30 years left of the Internet and then... it's gone. ;)
The Internet Will End In 30 Years
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