Re: [patch] x86-64 ext2/ext3 datestamp problem

H. Peter Anvin
2007-02-06T22:07:14Z

> H. Peter Anvin wrote:
>> Markus Rechberger wrote:
>>> My debian system's coreutils package only allows dates between 1902 and
>>> 2038, but it might be interesting to get that right if it's wrong.
>>>
>>> touch (GNU coreutils) 5.97 just says invalid dateformat to 2050-01-01
>> Lemme guess, you're on a 32-bit system...
>>
>
> I have both here, 64 and 32bit
> If I touch a file with 1905 on my 32bit system and remount the disk the
> date will remain at 1905 without any patch.
>

The reason is that most 32-bit systems (e.g. i386) only have a 32-bit
time_t, so the user space interface wraps around in 2038.

However, most 64-bit systems (e.g. x86_64) have 64-bit time_t, and thus
don't have that problem.

-hpa