time(0L) - history of a misconception (was Re: SCO password generator)

[Raymond L. Toy]

In article <4138 at uc.msc.umn.edu> you write:
|> In article <1141 at mwtech.UUCP> martin at mwtech.UUCP (Martin Weitzel) writes:
|> >In article <588 at sherpa.UUCP> rac at sherpa.UUCP (Roger Cornelius) writes:
|>[...]
|> 
|> You are right -- to ensure portability, you should always pass what
is expected
|> (i.e. a pointer and not a long).  This way, if someday a machine is created 
|> on which a pointer to a long is a different size then a long, the
program will
|> still work.  However, I don't know of any machines on which the two differ.

Such machines do exist and are very common.  In particular, a PC has
this property when using the small memory model: a pointer is 16 bits
long, but a long is 32 bits.

Also, at school, we had a Harris H800 mini, a 24-bit machine.  A
pointer was 24 bits long (really only 22!!!), and a long was really 47
bits long!!!!  This was a rather bizarre machine, to say the least.
It's dead and gone now, fortunately.

Ray
ray ----> toy at soho.crd.ge.com

|> 
|> -Jeff
|> ---
|> Jeff Turner                           EMAIL: jeff at msc.edu
|> Minnesota Supercomputer Center, Inc.  VOICE: (612) 626-0544
|> Minneapolis, Minnesota  55415           FAX: (612) 624-6550