..I am not disappointed at the failures that have not happened, however I still remain cautious. How can so many "informed" computer types discuss a potentially world-ending "bug" and come to such a wrong conclusion (so far that is)? I think I will be more concerned if this turns out to be an absolute non-event. The money that government spent (still not being sure if it would fix the "bug") is amazing, let alone the money spent be individuals to prepare even in the slightest amount. I work in a large grocery chain in TX. We had the largest 2-day figures for our almost 50 year history. If nothing happens I would think people will be very pissed..almost more so than if the world ended...any comments? Just seems like too little happened..hell I at least expected a few power outages..

-- Todd D. (tie@flash.net), December 31, 1999

Answers

Some not happened yet, much not yet reported. Or, visa versa.

-- Rob (maxovrdrv51@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.

As a programmer of twenty years I can tell you that y2k is not a hoax. In the past two months I have worked a hundred hours per week fixing my old code for 7 multimillion dollar businesses. Without the changes they would have been dead in the water 1/3/00. I am still not sure they are Ok. Many, many PC's are going to fail when small business goes back to work. I have personally witnessed half a dozen already. Yes it is great that the utilities are holding up but I know that many, many businesses are not going to make it. It took my clients a year before they decided it should be fixed. Their only customer plans to test their systems 1/3/00.

-- VeryConcerned (rwilhelm@westol.com), December 31, 1999.

I'm with Todd...I'm also a computer programmer...I didn't cause the problem, but together with our staff we've put in countless hours changing date codes and logic and without that work there would be so many more problems...why do you think we've all been working so hard for a solution...they don't pay us any extra..plus the time we've lost from our personal lives just so ingrates like you can say this hasn't been a real issue....spare me your stupidity...

-- Jim B. (wolfman@startext.net), December 31, 1999.

we never said it was world ending.... we said there could be problems based on our knowledge of sofware, hardware, firmware.... we worked like crazy to fix everything we could get our hands on... we told folks we weren't sure about the rest and gave non-techy folks estimates on what the POTENTIAL impact could be.... most of us just give facts as we know them... how other take those facts and run with them is beyond our control.

-- techy (techy@financialco.com), December 31, 1999.

Your question and confusion mirrors what I have been feeling tonite, Todd. However, the true test will be this coming week and month. When we kick into gear on Monday only then will we see what's going on.

However, keep in mind that it's only 10:15 p.m. EST, a lot can happen still this weekend. Can someone who is an expert start a post and discuss what we are seeing?

-- Mark (markmic@kynd.net), December 31, 1999.

I am not downplaying the role that "front-line" programmers have played in fixing code. I commend the amount of hours spent in the field fixing faulty code. I have a 50-60 hour work week myself and spent the majority of my off time trying to make heads or tails of this situation. I have lost friends, fought with my wife, neglected my children and spent countless hours wasted on an issue that may turn out to be a non-event (hence I say might..I'm not saying we are in the clear, but I thought we would see something a bit more problematic). I think I should be more pissed about the wasted time spent (after my normal work week) than any poor programmer who at least got paid for the time they spent..bet most got paid overtime as well. Anyway, not meaning to blame anyone in particular or take away any hard work by "coders" just want to make sense of the strangest period I can remember in my lifetime. I hope we come through this mess learning alot about people and how we can be led to believe almost anyone or anything. What a marvelous experiment. Happy new year.

-- Todd D. (tie@flash.net), December 31, 1999.

No Y2k wasnt a hoax. It was a problem that was dealt with effectively. Id consider the main point of confusion to be Ed Yourdon himself. Yes in hindsight it was good he rang the bell of alarm for us and much of the industry. However I feel he took it too far. It went from being a technical problem for the experts to being a social problem for everyone. I think that took it out of scope. This board is really one example I think. So Ed id say your contribution here while it may have saved our asses technically , is a bittersweet one at best.

-- nyc (nycnyc@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.