I'm working in php with some dates prior to 1901.

It would be a lot easier with 64 bit php as I could just store the dates as UNIX time in the database making comparisons easier and convert as necessary to whatever string format I need for presentation.

My linode (CentOS 5.x) is 32-bit, so 32-bit php is all I can build.

Is it possible to get a 64 bit linode?

If only they had some sort of page that answers questions that are asked alot...... (just kidding).

From their FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Which distributions do you offer?

Current Distributions:

* Arch Linux 2009.02 (i386 and x86_64)
* CentOS 5.3 (i386 and x86_64)
* Debian 5.0 (i386 and x86_64)
* Fedora 11
* Gentoo 2008.0 (i386 and x86_64)
* OpenSUSE 11.0
* Slackware 12.2
* Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (i386 and x86_64)
* Ubuntu 9.10 (i386 and x86_64)

Older Distributions:

* CentOS 5.2 (i386 and x86_64)
* Debian 4.0 (i386 and x86_64)
* Fedora 9
* Gentoo 2007.0
* Ubuntu 8.10 (i386 and x86_64)
* Ubuntu 9.04 (i386 and x86_64)

I'm not aware of any requirement that the CPU or software be 64-bit aware in order to use, for example, MySQL's bigint to store numbers with absolute value greater than 2**32.

The issue isn't storing the number.

The issue is using the date function to get readable output from unix time, IE

$TimeString = date('F j, Y \a\t g:i A T',$unixtime);

and using the strtotime to get the unix date from a string outside the 32 bit range.

-=-

I'll have to file a ticket to see if I can get a 64 bit linode set up.
I don't recall it being an option back when I signed up (couple years ago), glad to see it is now.

Just free up some disk space and run the distro wizard. No need to file a ticket for something as simple as setting up a new image.

Looks like pear Date::Time will let me do it 32-bit so I don't even need to do that.

There isn't anything unique about a 64-bit Linode; it's just a 64-bit distribution (deployable via the Distro Wizard) booting with a 64-bit kernel. If you deploy one of the 64-bit distributions through the Distro Wizard, the created configuration will already be set up with a 64-bit kernel. If I type 64-bit one more time, there are now 7 uses of the phrase "64-bit" in this paragraph.

That being said, for this purpose I'm glad to hear you didn't need 64-bit (8) and that you got it sorted out.

_________________
Disclaimer: I am no longer employed by Linode; opinions are my own alone.

Heh, Limp Bizkit ref?

It should be noted that 64-bit PHP binaries still use 32-bit timestamps.