-={ 2021-04-11 23:04:06.451242390+00:00 }=-

Hey August!

 AA> But what if two or more systems process messages at exactly the
 AA> same time of the day?

It won't matter since two or more systems will have two or more unique addresses.  Also points off the same system creating the same id would still be unique given the differing point numbers in the address.  Using my node address in comparison for a point system off my node potentially could create MSGIDs as follows;

  MSGID: 1:153/7001.0 01234567
  MSGID: 1:153/7001.1 01234567

That odds of that happening given the number of fidonet users here are pretty much nil here but why tempt the fates?  As for random collisions there isn't any guarentee that either of the above two systems won't create a collision within three years no matter how remote that possibility is whereas the serial number created by the number of seconds since 1970|1900 should NEVER create a collision within it's lifetime, 2106 in my particular case since I am using the 1970 benchmark with an unsigned 32-bit integer.  Also this serial number has real meaning that can be extracted by those in the know whereas a random serial number offers nothing in that direction other than uniqueness.  Using your scoring system then the serial time generated one scores higher when compared to the random serial number no matter if it is a hex representation or not.  Adding more characters doesn't add meaning or additional functionality to it.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Gif šu hw‘t on druncen misdo, ne wit šu hit šam ealoše.
    If you do something wrong when drunk, don't blame it on the ale.
--- GNU bash, version 5.1.4(1)-release (x86_64-motorshed-linux-gnu)