The unix time is represented as a two’s complemented integer in some places. Y2K38 is actually the moment when the most significant bit becomes set, not when it rolls over to zero. That would occur in 2106. In two’s complement, the number with the most significant bit set and the rest zeros is the most negative representable number: -2,147,483,648. As a number of seconds relative to the unix epoch, that takes you back to 1901.
It’s kind of interesting it rolls over to a time close to what Y2k would have.
The unix time is represented as a two’s complemented integer in some places. Y2K38 is actually the moment when the most significant bit becomes set, not when it rolls over to zero. That would occur in 2106. In two’s complement, the number with the most significant bit set and the rest zeros is the most negative representable number: -2,147,483,648. As a number of seconds relative to the unix epoch, that takes you back to 1901.
It’s kind of interesting it rolls over to a time close to what Y2k would have.