<sect1 id="y2k">
 <title>Y2K Statement</title>

 <note>
  <title>Author</title>

  <para>
   Written by 
   <ulink url="mailto:lockhart@alumni.caltech.edu">Thomas Lockhart</ulink>
   on 1998-10-22.
  </para>
 </note>

 <para>
  The <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> Global Development Team provides
  the <productname>Postgres</productname> software code tree as a public service,
  without warranty and without liability for it's behavior or performance.
  However, at the time of writing:
 </para>

 <itemizedlist>
  <listitem>
   <para>
    The author of this statement, a volunteer on the <productname>Postgres</productname>
    support team since November, 1996, is not aware of 
    any problems in the <productname>Postgres</productname> code base related
    to time transitions around Jan 1, 2000 (Y2K).
   </para>
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
   <para>
    The author of this statement is not aware of any reports of Y2K problems 
    uncovered in regression testing
    or in other field use of recent or current versions
    of <productname>Postgres</productname>. We might have expected
    to hear about problems if they existed, given the installed base and
    the active participation of users on the support mailing lists.
   </para>
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
   <para>
    To the best of the author's knowledge, the
    assumptions Postgres makes about dates specified with a two-digit year
    are documented in the current 
    <ulink url="http://www.postgresql.org/docs/user/datatype.htm">User's Guide</ulink>
    in the chapter on data types.
    For two-digit years, the significant transition year is 1970, not 2000;
    e.g. <quote>70-01-01</quote> is interpreted as <quote>1970-01-01</quote>,
    whereas <quote>69-01-01</quote> is interpreted as <quote>2069-01-01</quote>.
   </para>
  </listitem>

  <listitem>
   <para>
    Any Y2K problems in the underlying OS related to obtaining "the
    current time" may propagate into apparent Y2K problems in
    <productname>Postgres</productname>.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </itemizedlist>

 <para>
  Refer to 
  <ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/software/year2000.html">The Gnu Project</ulink>
  and
  <ulink url="http://language.perl.com/news/y2k.html">The Perl Institute</ulink>
  for further discussion of Y2K issues, particularly
  as it relates to open source, no fee software.
 </para>

</sect1>

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