FWIW, even keeping an interval in a single number still imposes limits. As proven by the epoch's 2038 problem.
No, on 32-bit Linux systems, time_t is 32 bits (except perhaps on newer ports like 32-bit RISC-V).
32 bit linux applications can use 64 bit time_t if they were configured to do so and glibc and the kernel are new enough. But enough closed source binaries don't support 64 bit time_t that we'll probably have problems in 2038.