The year-2038 bug is similar to the Y2K bug in that it involves a time-wrap problem not handled by programmers. In the case of Y2K, many older machines did not store the century digits of dates, hence the year 2000 and the year 1900 would appear the same.

Of course we now know that the prevalence of computers that would fail because of this error was greatly exaggerated by the media. Computer scientists were generally aware that most machines would continue operating as usual through the century turnover, with the worst result being an incorrect date. This prediction withstood through to the new millennium. Effected systems were tested and corrected in time, although the correction and verification of those systems was monumentally expensive.

Cela se produira le mardi 19 janvier 2038 à 3 heures 14 minutes et 07 secondes… A ce moment, les machines croiront (si elles croient) être le vendredi 13 décembre à 20 heures 45 et 52 secondes. Bah, au moins, on a vraiment le temps de voir venir !

Source : The Year-2038 Bug.