Discordian date with ddate
New Calendar

The Discordian calendar straightens outs the remaining irregularities in our present calendar with a wink of the eye. Using ddate, you can convert the current time into the "new system."
For many years, humans have been living according to the Gregorian calendar, which was pontifically decreed centuries ago. The journey of days through the seasons that Julius Caesar's calendar had created was thus deactivated for a time. This had, in turn, straightened out the previous lunar calendar, which went through a year in 354 days and therefore had to be adjusted continuously and manually to the actual state of affairs.
Twelve-month years with seven-day weeks may be quite a usable compromise for counting time, but it's also a rotten one in many ways. The six-plus-one rule might seem practical, but four weeks only fill up a whole month once a year – the others have 30 or 31 days. This irregularity leads, for example, to the fact that you celebrate your birthday on a different day of the week each year.
Calendar of Discord
The Discordian calendar [1] (from the Latin discordia) thoroughly tidies up these difficulties and takes a completely different approach: It divides the year into five months, each of which has 73 days. A year still has 365 days, with a leap day every four years. However, the weeks shrink to five days. Take a look at the output from the ddate
command invoked without any arguments (Figure 1).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.