The value was originally set for approximately 2^30 seconds, as measured from
Jan 1, 1970. The problem could have been avoided if they had set the value lar
ger at the time (like the maximum for a signed integer at 2^31) or, better yet
, put in some other logic to avoid the dependence on the system call for time.
In simple terms, they did not set a value large enough at the time (1997) nor
did they have a procedure in place to increase this value in subsequent relea
ses.