Learn English – a long time vs a long time now

To me (native American English speaker) they have the same meaning, but "before" sounds perhaps regional or outdated. It's totally grammatical and comprehensible, but I wouldn't expect to hear it often in Seattle.

In general, this construction, as compared to:

When does the term end?

What time do you get here?

has a slight nuance of "I think it's taking too long for the event to occur." If someone asks me:

How long till you get here?

I will probably hear, "I'm tired of waiting for you; why is it taking so long?" But it depends on the context and tone of voice.

According to Cambridge Dictionary here and here:

be up to sth = to be doing something:

• What are you up to at the moment?

and

get up to sth = to do something, often something that other people would disapprove of:

• She's been getting up to all sorts of mischief lately.
• I wonder what those two got up to yesterday?

So the use of to get up to sth implies a bad intention / deed, unlike to be up to sth.

@RonaldSole correctly adds in the comment (thank you):

to be up to sth = is also used in the sense of be capable of.

• Will he be up to a long walk so soon after his operation?