[rec.arts.sf-lovers] A DOS of Star Trek

leonard@agora.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) (02/22/88)

In article <3098@cup.portal.com> Isaac_K_Rabinovitch@cup.portal.com writes:
<dlow@hpccc.HP.COM (Danny Low) writes:
<Obviously they're not using MS-DOS.  They're 4 centuries in the future,
<and the MS-DOS clock will overflow in less than a century.  So all of
<humanity from the mid-21st on is safe from MS-DOS!  Rather a relief, no?

Sorry Isaaac, but you have fallen into the same trap that many others have.
They note that MS-DOS has only 7 bits to represent the year, and they assume
that that means it will break on Jan 1, 2028. 

MS-DOS starts counting on Jan 1, 1980. This implies it would break on Jan 1,
2108. Due to *other* limitations, it breaks on Jan 1, 2100. This is more 
than a century in the future. 
 

-- 
Leonard Erickson		...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]		...!tektronix!reed!percival!agora!leonard
"I used to be a hacker. Now I'm a 'microcomputer specialist'.
You know... I'd rather be a hacker."