Switch MySQL Timestamp columns for DateTime

[LasseRafn]

Timestamp columns cannot store values past 2038, meaning in ~16 years, applications will break unless all created_at and updated_at columns are switched to DateTime (instead of the default which is Timestamp)

It will also affect user-inputted columns (eg a "Invoice Date", or "Send Mail At", field.. just to make up some examples).. Lets say in December 2037 I want to schedule an email for dispatch in 2038, and my application stores the email campaigns schedule as Timestamp, then I'll encounter an exception.

Therefor I propose, in next major version, to make the Laravel created_at & updated_at columns with type DateTime instead.

I am aware that this is in the far future, however the longer we wait, the higher the migration burden will be.

Open for discussion as well! If theres positive response, I can submit a PR to make the change.

This could (?) also affect other DB engines, however I do not know. Feel free to add that info here so the PR can reflect that.

Additional reading:
https://database.guide/what-is-the-year-2038-problem/
https://laracasts.com/discuss/channels/laravel/migrations-timestamp-vs-datetime-vs-date-vs-timestamps

[deployHuman]

i Think its a really good idea to start thinking about it!

And similar note even the use of "year" in migration, in mySQL it uses the type YEAR which is a set timeframe between '1901' and '2155', which is a big interval but still limited if you are talking about e.a referring to history, or developing a game which is set in the future, then it will be sql error.

[henzeb]

Sounds good. The change is minimal, although you can already do this yourself as the methods involved are simple shortcuts.