k. Compounding this -2000 is a leap year. Some programs (Including Lotus and Lotus-Compatibleworksheets) do not recognize Feb 29th, 2000. (Datamation Magazine, Jan.1996 Joe Celko)The latter touches on an important aspect of the problem. There is nodefinitive answer to a manager's question of "what will happen to myprogram?" The all-encompassing answer is that it depends. Some operatingsystems will default back to their creation date (1990 for MS-Windows3.1; 1980 for MS-DOS machines). Some programs will do the same, orinterpret the year as 2000. Others still will work sporadically andoutput random data. Some will crash altogether. Some other applicationsare based around a client server model. The server may be able to bemodified to cope with a larger year field, but the client programs,often off-the-shelf, cannot be modified and in many cases are no longersupported! The problem, then, is very subjective and ambiguous - therewill be no quick fix."For once in our lives," says de Jager, "it doesn't matter the size ofthe project, how many resources, how much money you have - the deadlineis fixed."-- Peter de Jager, Year 2000 Consultant, quoted from Datamation magazineLegality - Paying the BillsThere are several issues as to software and the insurance and thepotential liability for program failures of this magnitude. One of thequestions that information technology managers are being asked about theyear 2000 situation is "who's to blame?". While this is a new occupancyon the millennium bug field, and not much information was available, itis conceivable that external contractors who provided software may befaced with expensive lawsuits related to the inevitable failure of theirsoftware.The insurance industry has already looked at the issue and determinedthat companies will not be able to claim software failures (such as) themillennium bug under most plans unless specifically defined, as it wasan intristic problem with the software and not somet...
