Hey Ozz!

 ON> it would make sense on the server to use timestamp

Agreed.  There is very little chance that the sysop would be creating two
messages at the same time which is the danger on a multiuser system such as a
busy BB S.

 ON> two nodes post during the same second

That won't matter since the node number is part of the MSGID.  Thus even if the
 32 bit hex number is exactly the same the nodes' MSGID will still be unique. 
It is only if a multisuer node with only one address is this a danger and
probably not much of a danger these days.  Also a sysop could give each user on
 a node a point address so that MSGID uniquiness would be guarenteed ... at
least up to Sun Feb  7 06:28:15 UTC 2106, for unsigned 32 bit unixtimes which
from my observations seems to be the case in Fidonet, not counting abandonware
of course.  Your mileage may vary.

Life is good,
Maurice

... Don't cry for me I have vi.
--- GNU bash, version 5.0.3(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
 * Origin: Little Mikey's EuroPoint - Ladysmith BC, Canada (2:280/464.113)