Believe it or not, Leipzig university (Germany) does teach cobol and mainframe. They even got one.
ITschak בתאריך יום ב׳, 6 באפר׳ 2020, 0:54, מאת Bob Bridges <robhbrid...@gmail.com>: > Ok, I was going to resist the temptation, but what the heck. Some of you > may remember this joke from 20 years ago: > > Jack was a COBOL programmer in the late 1990s who (after years of being > taken for granted and treated as a technological dinosaur by all the UNIX > programmers and Client/Server programmers and website developers, etc) was > finally getting some respect. You see, he'd become a private consultant > specializing in Year-2000 conversions. He was working short-term > assignments for prestigious companies, traveling all over the world on > different assignments. He was working 70- and 80- and even 90-hour weeks, > but it was worth it. > > However, several years of this relentless, mind-numbing work had taken its > toll on Jack. He had problems sleeping and began having anxiety dreams > about the year 2000. It had reached a point where even the thought of the > year 2000 made him nearly violent. He must have suffered some sort of > breakdown, because all he could think about was how he could avoid the year > 2000 and all that came with it. > > By the end of 1997 Jack had decided to contact a company that specialized > in cryogenics. He made a deal to have himself frozen until 2001 through > their totally automated (and very expensive) process. He was thrilled. > The next thing he would know, he'd wake up in the year 2001 -- after the > New Year celebrations and computer debacles, after the leap year, and after > the dust had settled. Nothing else to worry about except getting on with > his life. > > He was put into his cryogenic receptacle, the technicians set the revive > date, he was given injections to slow his heartbeat to a bare minimum, and > that was that. > > The next thing Jack saw was an enormous and very modern room filled with > excited people. They were all shouting "I can't believe it!" and "It's a > miracle" and "He's alive!". There were cameras (unlike any he'd ever seen) > and equipment that looked like it came out of a science fiction movie. > > Someone who was obviously a spokesperson for the group stepped forward. > Jack couldn't contain his enthusiasm. "It's over?" he asked. "Is 2001 > already here? Are all the millennial parties and promotions and crises all > over and done with?" > > The spokesman explained that there had been a problem with the programming > of the timer on Jack's cryogenic receptacle. It hadn't been year-2000 > compliant; it was actually 8000 years later, not the year 2001. But the > spokesman told Jack that he shouldn't get excited; someone important wanted > to speak to him. > > Suddenly a wall-sized projection screen displayed the image of a man that > had a striking resemblance to Bill Gates. This man was Prime Minister of > Earth. He told Jack not to be upset. That this was a wonderful time to be > alive. That there was world peace and no more starvation. That the space > program had been reïnstated and there were colonies on the moon and on > Mars. That technology had advanced to such a degree that everyone had > virtual-reality interfaces that allowed them to contact anyone else on the > planet, or to watch any entertainment, or to hear any music recorded > anywhere. > > "That sounds terrific," said Jack. "But I'm curious: Why is everybody so > interested in me?" > > "Well," said the Prime Minister. "The year 10 000 is just around the > corner, and it says in your files you know COBOL..." > > --- > Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 > > /* Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. -Voltaire > */ > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On > Behalf Of Gerhard adam > Sent: Sunday, April 5, 2020 16:13 > > COBOL is not taught because those that know it can make a much > better living using it than teaching college classes to people that believe > it is “dead” > Of course the latter opinion is stupid on the face of it. After all, how > does one replace systems that are not understood? From scratch? LOL > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
