Debian: transition to 64-bit time_t

[xeno74]

There is a ABI change of the binaries in Debian packages currently. (ABI = application binary interface)

Goal description:

Use 64-bit time_t on 32-bit architectures to avoid the 'year 2038 problem' when the existing 32-bit signed int rolls over (potentially setting time back to 1900).
6429 of Debian's 35960 packages have time_t in the source. Packages which expose structs in their ABI which contain time_t will change their ABI. All such libraries need to migrate together, as is the case for any library ABI change.

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We are affected. This means that the installation and upgrade of packages is currently not working.

PLEASE do not upgrade the packages in your Debian PPC.

[xeno74]

FYI:

Hi,

for anyone wondering whether it would be safe now to dist-upgrade your Debian machines running the powerpc or ppc64 ports, here's a quick update on the current status.

Performing a full two-staged dist-upgrade on ppc64 should be safe while an upgrade on powerpc is currently safe. If you're running powerpc on a desktop and use lightdm as the display manager, you should wait for #1067561 [1] to be fixed unless you are using gdm3 or sddm.

Either way, upgrade should be performed from a virtual console outside X11 or Wayland.

First run "apt update", then "apt upgrade" and make sure every package is updated without issues. Once that has passed, you may try to run "apt dist-upgrade" but before you confirm the dist-upgrade, make sure that nothing is purged you still need.

In case of unexpected breakage, please report it to the debian-powerpc mailing list.

Adrian

> [1] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... ug=1067561

--
.''`. John Paul Adrian Glaubitz
: :' : Debian Developer
`. `' Physicist
`- GPG: 62FF 8A75 84E0 2956 9546 0006 7426 3B37 F5B5 F913

[Hypex]

This was unexpected. Seems the timing is impecible on this one. It also looks like the Amiga version of the Y2K bug of the future. So, come 2038, our machines could suddenly fall apart and turn to dust. Because if the time on the computer is set back to 1900 then it won't exist.