[TUHS] Unix half a billion seconds old in 1985

[Warren Toomey]

On Sun, Nov 04, 2018 at 07:16:35PM -0800, Ken Thompson via TUHS wrote:
> 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.

This bit me when Dennis sent me an electronic copy of a DECtape from 
this timeframe. It took us quite a while to decide how to interpret
the timestamps. See:
https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/1972_stuff/Readme
right down the bottom.

Cheers, Warren