Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!nikhefk!keeshu
From: keeshu@nikhefk.UUCP (Kees Huyser)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Bulletin Board Software Needed (Now Opus Bug)
Message-ID: <329@nikhefk.UUCP>
Date: 4 Mar 88 13:58:51 GMT
References: <17259@watmath.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: keeshu@nikhefk.UUCP (Kees Huyser)
Organization: National Institute for Nuclear Physics; Netherlands
Lines: 29
Keywords: Opus BBS bug
Summary: make bogus event at 23:59

In article <17259@watmath.waterloo.edu> 221.162.fido!Geoffrey_Welsh@watmath.waterloo.edu writes:
#
#   BULLETIN!
# 
#   Opus 1.03a will not work properly between March 1st 1988 and March 
#1st 1994! It won't recognize the SCHED.BBS file contents and will cut off
#all users on a "TIME LIMIT" excuse as soon as they read the welcome screen.

As a sysop who has also been bitten by this bug, I can offer a workaround
for the problem for those who do not yet have the patch.

Create a new event at 23:59. It is not important what the event does, e.g.
you could run an eXternal event like waste.com or pauze.com to waste a
minute. Opus *will* recognize an event if it is still on the same day.
The bogus 23:59 event will force Opus to interprete the Sched.Bbs properly,
and since the event runs at 23:59 and lasts one minute, Opus will roll
over to the next day *and* read the Sched.Bbs again. Thus, any events
running at National Mail Hour will be recognized.

As for where the bug comes from : Opus started this funny behaviour on
March 1st, the day following Feb. 29, a leap-day. This is probably the
cause. Wether it is a problem in Opus or in MSC 5.0 I don't know.

-- Kees
| UUCP   : keeshu@nikhefk.uucp  or {[wherever]!uunet}!mcvax!nikhefk!keeshu
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