Hey Oli!

 O> You are trying to solve a problem for a time in the future when
 O> Fidonet is most likely dead.

No I am not.  I am simply pointing out that two digit years are the problem and
will continue being so as long as they are treated as DateTime stamps.  As far
as I am aware the next "mass extintion event" or rollover is set to happen
sometime in 2029-ish.  The software I am and have been deploying doesn't suffer
from any two digit year problem since it totally ignores the packed MSG
DateTime stamp other than as a placeholder so it can properly unpack individual
MSGs in a pkt.  I've noted others doing the same or so it seems.

As far as this and other echoareas being dead I think that happened in the
original die off back in 1999.  Some say sooner but that particular die off had
nothing to do with two digit years but instead the growth of internet usage as
it became more widely usable to the unwashed masses.  Bottomline is that as
long as it exists and certain software takes it seriously, the two digit year
will continue to take out applications that depend on it.  They are the dead
weight in Fidonet.

 O> I think there are bigger issues to solve first

I say this is the biggest issue as well as if this gets truly fixed than other
issues may magically go away.  ;-)

 O> So let's create a new packet/message format for the next 40 years

I think we could do better than 40 years but for now I am sticking with the
current proposal which should take us to at least Dec. 31st, 9999 23:59:59
+0000 and then all bets are off.  That is just under 8000 years from now and
doesn't require major surgery to the existing standard in question.  Whether it
should or not is where it stands today.  Personally I believe we can all do
better.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Eadig biþ se þe eaþmod leofaþ; cymeþ him seo ar of heofonum.
    Blessed is he who lives humbly; mercy comes to him from heaven.
--- GNU bash, version 5.1.4(1)-release (x86_64-motorshed-linux-gnu)