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
-
Kali Linux Waxes Nostalgic with BackTrack Mode
For those who've used Kali Linux since its inception, the changes with the new release are sure to put a smile on your face.
-
Gnome 50 Smooths Out NVIDIA GPU Issues
Gamers rejoice, your favorite pastime just got better with Gnome 50 and NVIDIA GPUs.
-
System76 Retools Thelio Desktop
The new Thelio Mira has landed with improved performance, repairability, and front-facing ports alongside a high-quality tempered glass facade.
-
Some Linux Distros Skirt Age Verification Laws
After California introduced an age verification law recently, open source operating system developers have had to get creative with how they deal with it.
-
UN Creates Open Source Portal
In a quest to strengthen open source collaboration, the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology has created a new portal.
-
Latest Linux Kernel RC Contains Changes Galore
Linux kernel 7.0-rc3 includes more changes than have been made in a single release in recent history.
-
Nitrux 6.0 Now Ready to Rock Your World
The latest iteration of the Debian-based distribution includes all kinds of newness.
-
Linux Foundation Reports that Open Source Delivers Better ROI
In a report that may surprise no one in the Linux community, the Linux Foundation found that businesses are finding a 5X return on investment with open source software.
-
Keep Android Open
Google has announced that, soon, anyone looking to develop Android apps will have to first register centrally with Google.
-
Kernel 7.0 Now in Testing
Linus Torvalds has announced the first Release Candidate (RC) for the 7.x kernel is available for those who want to test it.