4 ms·

I'm imagining a whole bunch of bricked "classic" cars

daeken 14y ago
I really can't imagine why that would ever happen. What car would ever use a clock for anything essential, instead of a timer? Maybe I'm overestimating the intelligence of car developers, but it seems like the obvious, simple solution.
- forgotusername 14y ago
  Engine won't start, service due 300 years ago. I'd be willing to bet $10 there's at least a few floating around with real time clocks, no idea what they'd be used for though. If nothing else there's always in-car navigation and entertainment which are definitely candidates, although I suppose less likely to result in a brick.
  - mattdeboard 14y ago
    Sorry, what?
    - forgotusername 14y ago
      I'm engaging in what is commonly known as using one's imagination to make educated guesses at the possible electronic devices within an average motor vehicle (you know, that thing with wheels on it) where a real time clock susceptible to wraparound or overflow might be found, thus resulting in potential malfunction, or in plainer words, "the car won't start, the tuner won't play music, the GPS won't get a signal, this thing is about as useful as a brick".
      - mattdeboard 14y ago
        I see. I have to apologize, it totally went over my head you were talking about cars considered classic in 2038, not the current day. Whoosh.
- thwarted 14y ago
  What car would ever use a clock for anything essential, instead of a timer? You could say the same thing about the futex option that caused this issue in Linux in the first place. If the futex call specified a timeout in duration rather than an absolute time, this bug wouldn't have been hit (I observed the two different kinds of futex use during the leap second event).
leoedin 14y ago
Interestingly, because of significant changes in the way we manufacture cars, I'd imagine there will be far fewer classic cars around in 26 years. A car today uses a few very large stamped steel components coupled with intricate plastic pieces. Maintaining a car for significant periods of time is far more of an issue than it was with much simpler cars of the past. When a small component in a modern car fails, you need to replace significantly more of the car with a significantly harder to manufacture piece to get it working again. Perhaps 3D printing will provide us with a way to produce bespoke complicated pieces, but there's a long way for that technology to go before it's usable for steel car components. Essentially, modern cars are considerably more reliable in the short term, but very, very hard to maintain in the long term. Classic cars in 26 years will primarily be very high end or unusual cars today (I can imagine kit cars, Rolls Royces, Ariel Atoms and other largely custom cars sticking around) and cars that we consider classics today. A car that's made it 30, 40 or 50 years today is likely to make it another 50.

I really can't imagine why that would ever happen. What car would ever use a clock for anything essential, instead of a timer? Maybe I'm overestimating the intelligence of car developers, but it seems like the obvious, simple solution.

forgotusername 14y ago
Engine won't start, service due 300 years ago. I'd be willing to bet $10 there's at least a few floating around with real time clocks, no idea what they'd be used for though. If nothing else there's always in-car navigation and entertainment which are definitely candidates, although I suppose less likely to result in a brick.
- mattdeboard 14y ago
  Sorry, what?
  - forgotusername 14y ago
    I'm engaging in what is commonly known as using one's imagination to make educated guesses at the possible electronic devices within an average motor vehicle (you know, that thing with wheels on it) where a real time clock susceptible to wraparound or overflow might be found, thus resulting in potential malfunction, or in plainer words, "the car won't start, the tuner won't play music, the GPS won't get a signal, this thing is about as useful as a brick".
    - mattdeboard 14y ago
      I see. I have to apologize, it totally went over my head you were talking about cars considered classic in 2038, not the current day. Whoosh.
thwarted 14y ago
What car would ever use a clock for anything essential, instead of a timer? You could say the same thing about the futex option that caused this issue in Linux in the first place. If the futex call specified a timeout in duration rather than an absolute time, this bug wouldn't have been hit (I observed the two different kinds of futex use during the leap second event).

leoedin 14y ago

Interestingly, because of significant changes in the way we manufacture cars, I'd imagine there will be far fewer classic cars around in 26 years. A car today uses a few very large stamped steel components coupled with intricate plastic pieces. Maintaining a car for significant periods of time is far more of an issue than it was with much simpler cars of the past. When a small component in a modern car fails, you need to replace significantly more of the car with a significantly harder to manufacture piece to get it working again. Perhaps 3D printing will provide us with a way to produce bespoke complicated pieces, but there's a long way for that technology to go before it's usable for steel car components. Essentially, modern cars are considerably more reliable in the short term, but very, very hard to maintain in the long term. Classic cars in 26 years will primarily be very high end or unusual cars today (I can imagine kit cars, Rolls Royces, Ariel Atoms and other largely custom cars sticking around) and cars that we consider classics today. A car that's made it 30, 40 or 50 years today is likely to make it another 50.