Hey all ... it looks like we're getting through the midnight hour OK with Y2K. However, I'd suggest that we all stay alert.

While I am not an expert on the "big picture", I have been writing software for 20 years and know how small problems can grow big. The Y2K "bug" has been hyped up by some to be an "event" that is going to happen all-at-once. Offhand, my guess is that this problem is going to be more subtil - creeping into the infrastructure a little more slowly. Not *all* software out there is highly date-dependent. The software that runs the electric utility industries may be date dependent to some degree, but nowhere near as dependent as software that makes calculations involving financial figures, scientific studies, etc. I'll be interested to see how things go next week.

I, like the rest of us, hope this thing really does turn out to be a BITR. However, let's all remain alert for awhile, eh? No one knows the full nature of this problem. Don't get rid of your preps yet.

This whole thing reminds me of a movie I once saw ... Force 10 from Navarone. Near the end of the movie, the commando group blew up a dam ... but the bombs did not destroy the dam in one blast. The blast was small, hardly noticeable. Most of the members of the demolition team thought the bomb was a dud but the demolition expert knew that the stress on the dam from the lake would cause the dam to collapse once that small damage had been done. I feel like Y2K is one of those situations; nothing critical seems to be going wrong right now, but a cascading problem could sweep through gradually in the coming weeks.

Hey ... if it doesn't then I and all other truly professional developers will happily admit we were wrong and get back to business as usual. Just thought I'd offer a little sanity check for those who might feel confused at the moment.

Have a great New Year folks!

-- Bruce (broeser@ccgnv.net), January 01, 2000

Answers

Thanks Bruce.

Y2K Pro, D-Decker, Flint, Hoffy et al live in little log cabins in a valley below the dam.

They are puffing their chest, oh, just about NOW...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 01, 2000.

Thanks Bruce!

I never expected anything tremendous to happen at the rollover anyway. I always expected that it would be a bunch of small failures that build to cause a bigger failure.

I am grateful that we have had no *Major* calamities - we really don't need loss of life.

Best to all and Happy New Year!

-- ExCop (yinadral@hotmail.com), January 01, 2000.

This is a long way to being over! I agree! I liken unremediated code to cancer cells; one line of code is one cancer cell. If caught by the "immune system"/bugbusters, then it is something we do not notice. Yet there are those bugs that will not only escape unnoticed, but could easily grow to become a sizeable tumor. There is every good chance there will be a huge economic fallout from all of this. Remain on guard!!!

-- (He Who) Rolls with Punches (JoeZi@aol.com), January 01, 2000.