At this point, most of the kernel work to avoid
the year-2038 apocalypse has been completed. Said apocalypse could occur when
time counted in seconds since 1970 overflows a 32-bit signed value
(i.e. time_t). Work in the GNU C Library (glibc) and other C
libraries is well
underway as well. But the “fun” is just beginning for distributions,
especially those that support 32-bit architectures, as a recent Debian
discussion reveals. One of the questions is: how much effort should be
made to support 32-bit architectures as they fade
from use and 2038 draws nearer?

Source: LWN.net – [$] Debian discusses how to handle 2038