Tapes had to be rewritten to keep the bits from rotting
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Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2018 19:16:35 -0800
From: Ken Thompson via TUHS <tuhs-Z6Fe2I8TbQJwZ3e6swPlpw@public.gmane.org>
Newsgroups: gmane.org.unix-heritage.general
Subject: Re: Unix half a billion seconds old in 1985
Message-ID: <CAG=a+rjbK-GAGrh5uA4SjLRVgJ258582UAxjgSDkM_3BmKumAg@mail.gmail.com>
unix time was originally measured in
ticks (60th of a second). alas, 2^32
only allows between 2 and 3 years.
so, we ran for 2 years and ended
up facing big problem in the 3rd.
our solution was to read all files
and all backup tapes and subtract
one year from all dates and move
the epoch up a year. we didnt mind
since dectapes (our backup tapes)
had to be rewritten to keep the bits
from rotting.
we did it again the next year and
when disaster was facing us on
the 4th year, we went to seconds.
it shows how much we bet on the
longevity of unix.
Tags: quote, ойті
Authors: ag