Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
In 657782070-1374708772-cardhu_decombobulator_blackberry.rim.net-1833732610-@b28.c1.bise6.blackberry, on 07/24/2013 at 11:32 PM, Ted MacNEIL eamacn...@yahoo.ca said: Yes, but the article blames COBOL. There are two kinds of fools: For large values of two. 3. Those who say this is old, therefore trustworthy. 4. Those who say This is new, therefore unreliable. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT Atid/2http://patriot.net/~shmuel We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
In ce167d3d.ad740%gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov, on 07/25/2013 at 11:20 AM, Shiminsky, Gary gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov said: COBOL is not at fault in this issue. It is incompetence. It is institutional contempt for low ranking soldiers. I guaranty that if the chairman of the chief joints had problems with the payroll system, they would be quickly resolved even if that required processing his pay check manually. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT Atid/2http://patriot.net/~shmuel We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
In 51f16d8d.5070...@valley.net, on 07/25/2013 at 02:25 PM, Gerhard Postpischil gerh...@valley.net said: And some happened due to C.E. errors - in the seventies we had an extra 2MiB of slow memory on one machine, but the C.E. forgot to enable memory protection, so any errant program could overwrite foreign memory. What about forgetting to configure a 2860 for IDA, with a tape controller connected over two channels. Everything works fine until MVS tries to do an I/O over the second 2860. Is that a bug? -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT Atid/2http://patriot.net/~shmuel We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
On 07/26/2013 08:34 AM, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) wrote: In ce16e718.ad880%gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov, on 07/25/2013 at 06:36 PM, Shiminsky, Gary gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov said: When I was in the Army in Korea we ran on Univac 1004 card processors. ITYM 1005. Occasionally the program card decks You programmed the 1004 with a plugboard. But according to wikipedia, one of the commonly-used plugboard programs for the Univac 1004 was an emulator that allowed you to read and store a program from cards that was then executed. Apparently the 1005 eliminated the need for the plugboard emulator program and moved that function into hardware. -- Joel C. Ewing,Bentonville, AR jcew...@acm.org -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
Shmuel, My Dad serviced them for a long time among other systems Scott ford www.identityforge.com from my IPAD 'Infinite wisdom through infinite means' On Jul 26, 2013, at 9:34 AM, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) shmuel+...@patriot.net wrote: In ce16e718.ad880%gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov, on 07/25/2013 at 06:36 PM, Shiminsky, Gary gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov said: When I was in the Army in Korea we ran on Univac 1004 card processors. ITYM 1005. Occasionally the program card decks You programmed the 1004 with a plugboard. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT Atid/2http://patriot.net/~shmuel We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- 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
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
In 51f28f5e.8080...@acm.org, on 07/26/2013 at 10:01 AM, Joel C. Ewing jcew...@acm.org said: But according to wikipedia, one of the commonly-used plugboard programs for the Univac 1004 was an emulator that allowed you to read and store a program from cards that was then executed. Apparently the 1005 eliminated the need for the plugboard emulator program and moved that function into hardware. It's true that the first iteration of the 1005 was a plugboard on the 1004, but I understood that the most common plugboard was the one to make the 1004 a remote batch workstation. OTOH, I had no experience with the Navy. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT Atid/2http://patriot.net/~shmuel We don't care. We don't have to care, we're Congress. (S877: The Shut up and Eat Your spam act of 2003) -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
On Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:34:50 -0400, Phil Smith III li...@akphs.com wrote: So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is �old�? No, the payroll system is broken because the documentation is lost, the code is corrupt and 7mio+ lines of code have not been updated in 20+ years... Jantje. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
When I was in the Army and stationed in Korea in the early 70 due to a payroll error I had to get advances. Then they started taking the advances out of my pay before they even fixed the problem making matters worst. COBOL is not at fault in this issue. It is incompetence. It is poor management, probably managers who shouldn't have been in data processing to begin with. How else would you loss all the documentation except for fire and water. COBOL, though fairly old, can be well written by a competent skilled programmers, having done that early on in my career. The excuse that some of the COBOL code was corrupted is stupid. Really, has anyone ever seen decay or rust in any code? Did it have bugs? No. Every bug I have ever seen has been actually some programmer's mistake. Gary Gary L. Shiminsky Senior zVM/zVSE Systems Programmer Mainframe Technical Support Group Department of Information Technology State of New Hampshire 27 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03301 603-271-1509 Fax 603-271-1516 Statement of Confidentiality: The contents of this message are confidential. Any unauthorized disclosure, reproduction, use or dissemination (either whole or in part) is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the message from your system. -Original Message- From: Phil Smith III li...@akphs.com Reply-To: IBM List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 4:34 PM To: IBM List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Blame the COBOL, how cliché http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-penta go n So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is ³old²? Sheesh. That¹s really weakŠ Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacementŠ -- 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
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
Shiminsky, Gary wrote: The excuse that some of the COBOL code was corrupted is stupid. Really, has anyone ever seen decay or rust in any code? Hmmm, after scanning my ancient COBOL progs, they're still rust free! ;-) HSM can do wonders to package your libraries in rust-free migrated datasets, mind you... ;-D Every bug I have ever seen has been actually some programmer's mistake. Of course. Whoever gives a computer something faulty to do, it is that person's fault, not the computer. But then, someone (I wonder who?) said on IBM-MAIN, a COBOL program abended with a S??? abend, so it is not that program, it is the SYSTEM! It is the programmer's responsibility to fix his/her program if the issue is indeed within the program itself. Who-ever runs that program, has to fix anything else related to that abend or refer to the programmer if needed. Groete / Greetings Elardus Engelbrecht -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU wrote on 07/24/2013 10:48:55 PM: From: scott svet...@ameritech.net The problem isn't the code, it's 1) The documentation for it - explaining how it was built, what was in it, and how it works - disappeared long ago. 2) Significant parts of the code have been ?corrupted.? 3) ?As time passes, the pool of COBOL expertise dwindles.? 4) The political will and military bureaucracy is not there. it is not just military, any bureaucracy that has hardening of the communication and/or cranial arteries. search Internet for blamestorming. aversion to change is sometimes rooted in fear. real change is radical, i.e. it goes to the roots (Latin radix, radicis for root) - The information contained in this communication (including any attachments hereto) is confidential and is intended solely for the personal and confidential use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, dissemination, copying, or unauthorized use of this information, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. Thank you -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU wrote on 07/25/2013 07:20:20 AM: From: Shiminsky, Gary gary.shimin...@doit.nh.gov COBOL is not at fault in this issue. It is incompetence. It is poor management, probably managers who shouldn't have been in data processing to begin with. How else would you loss all the documentation except for fire and water. COBOL, though fairly old, can be well written by a competent skilled programmers, having done that early on in my career. The excuse that some of the COBOL code was corrupted is stupid. Really, has anyone ever seen decay or rust in any code? Did it have bugs? No. Every bug I have ever seen has been actually some programmer's mistake. Gary Gary L. Shiminsky Senior zVM/zVSE Systems Programmer Mainframe Technical Support Group Department of Information Technology State of New Hampshire 27 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03301 603-271-1509 Fax 603-271-1516 Statement of Confidentiality: The contents of this message are confidential. Any unauthorized disclosure, reproduction, use or dissemination (either whole or in part) is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the message from your system. -Original Message- From: Phil Smith III li...@akphs.com Reply-To: IBM List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 4:34 PM To: IBM List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Blame the COBOL, how cliché http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-penta go n So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is ³old²? Sheesh. That¹s really weak? Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacement? -- 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 - The information contained in this communication (including any attachments hereto) is confidential and is intended solely for the personal and confidential use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, dissemination, copying, or unauthorized use of this information, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. Thank you -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU wrote on 07/25/2013 12:24:26 PM: From: Frank Swarbrick frank.swarbr...@yahoo.com I wonder, exactly, how code is corrupted. Does it start fading away as it ages? :-( While we cannot read the mind of the author of that statement, code becomes corrupted over time when maintenance is done sloppily and violates the design of the program/system. I think technical debt is appropriate. - The information contained in this communication (including any attachments hereto) is confidential and is intended solely for the personal and confidential use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, dissemination, copying, or unauthorized use of this information, or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. Thank you -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
On 7/25/2013 11:53 AM, Kirk Talman wrote: Every bug I have ever seen has been actually some programmer's mistake. Then you just haven't been around long enough g Back in the fifties and sixties, plenty of failures occurred due to machine errors. And some happened due to C.E. errors - in the seventies we had an extra 2MiB of slow memory on one machine, but the C.E. forgot to enable memory protection, so any errant program could overwrite foreign memory. Luckily I found the problem before our customers did. And some happened due to microcode errors. In the eighties we got a 4341, only to find ourselves unable to log on to TSO - it would 0C4 consistently. It took me a while to track this down - the MVCK instruction would fail when a string was split over a 2KiB boundary that wasn't a 4KiB multiple. Some time later we got a new floppy, and it still failed; IBM fixed the condition of one split string, but not the case when both were split. Some time later we upgraded to a 4381 - one of the first things I ran was my MVCK test program; yep, it failed. Gerhard Postpischil Bradford, Vermont -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
Seems like what the bugs you experienced back then were more related to hardware malfunctions than actual programming errors. When I was in the Army in Korea we ran on Univac 1004 card processors. Occasionally the program card decks would would have problems due to wear and tear from going through the card readers. Gary Gary L. Shiminsky Senior zVM/zVSE Systems Programmer Mainframe Technical Support Group Department of Information Technology State of New Hampshire 27 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03301 603-271-1509 Fax 603-271-1516 Statement of Confidentiality: The contents of this message are confidential. Any unauthorized disclosure, reproduction, use or dissemination (either whole or in part) is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the message from your system. -Original Message- From: Gerhard Postpischil gerh...@valley.net Reply-To: IBM List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: Thursday, July 25, 2013 2:25 PM To: IBM List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché On 7/25/2013 11:53 AM, Kirk Talman wrote: Every bug I have ever seen has been actually some programmer's mistake. Then you just haven't been around long enough g Back in the fifties and sixties, plenty of failures occurred due to machine errors. And some happened due to C.E. errors - in the seventies we had an extra 2MiB of slow memory on one machine, but the C.E. forgot to enable memory protection, so any errant program could overwrite foreign memory. Luckily I found the problem before our customers did. And some happened due to microcode errors. In the eighties we got a 4341, only to find ourselves unable to log on to TSO - it would 0C4 consistently. It took me a while to track this down - the MVCK instruction would fail when a string was split over a 2KiB boundary that wasn't a 4KiB multiple. Some time later we got a new floppy, and it still failed; IBM fixed the condition of one split string, but not the case when both were split. Some time later we upgraded to a 4381 - one of the first things I ran was my MVCK test program; yep, it failed. Gerhard Postpischil Bradford, Vermont -- 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
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
Hmm. In 1988 my military pay got messed up and it took more than a year and several letters to my congressman before it finally got resolved. It's not the COBOL that's at issue; it's the incompatible systems, multiple layers of bureaucracy and mostly the automated actions that occur without any human intervention or review. I truly feel for this guy and the others in his shoes. -- Donald Grinsell State of Montana 406-444-2983 dgrins...@mt.gov The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, and loyalty to the government when it deserves it. ~ Mark Twain -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil Smith III Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 2:35 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Blame the COBOL, how cliché http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentagon So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is old? Sheesh. That's really weak. Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacement. -- 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
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
Yes, but the article blames COBOL. There are two kinds of fools: 1. Those who say This is old, therefore bad. 2. Those who say: This is new, therefore better. - Ted MacNEIL eamacn...@yahoo.ca Twitter: @TedMacNEIL -Original Message- From: Grinsell, Don dgrins...@mt.gov Sender: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 21:54:10 To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Reply-To: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché Hmm. In 1988 my military pay got messed up and it took more than a year and several letters to my congressman before it finally got resolved. It's not the COBOL that's at issue; it's the incompatible systems, multiple layers of bureaucracy and mostly the automated actions that occur without any human intervention or review. I truly feel for this guy and the others in his shoes. -- Donald Grinsell State of Montana 406-444-2983 dgrins...@mt.gov The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, and loyalty to the government when it deserves it. ~ Mark Twain -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil Smith III Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 2:35 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Blame the COBOL, how cliché http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentagon So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is old? Sheesh. That's really weak. Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacement. -- 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 -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
3. This is new, therefore bad. 4. This is old, therefore good. On Jul 24, 2013 6:33 PM, Ted MacNEIL eamacn...@yahoo.ca wrote: Yes, but the article blames COBOL. There are two kinds of fools: 1. Those who say This is old, therefore bad. 2. Those who say: This is new, therefore better. - Ted MacNEIL eamacn...@yahoo.ca Twitter: @TedMacNEIL -Original Message- From: Grinsell, Don dgrins...@mt.gov Sender: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 21:54:10 To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Reply-To: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché Hmm. In 1988 my military pay got messed up and it took more than a year and several letters to my congressman before it finally got resolved. It's not the COBOL that's at issue; it's the incompatible systems, multiple layers of bureaucracy and mostly the automated actions that occur without any human intervention or review. I truly feel for this guy and the others in his shoes. -- Donald Grinsell State of Montana 406-444-2983 dgrins...@mt.gov The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, and loyalty to the government when it deserves it. ~ Mark Twain -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil Smith III Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 2:35 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Blame the COBOL, how cliché http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentagon So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is old? Sheesh. That's really weak. Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacement. -- 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 -- 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
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
5. This is Tuesday, therefore Belgium. On Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 7:53 PM, John McKown john.archie.mck...@gmail.comwrote: 3. This is new, therefore bad. 4. This is old, therefore good. On Jul 24, 2013 6:33 PM, Ted MacNEIL eamacn...@yahoo.ca wrote: Yes, but the article blames COBOL. There are two kinds of fools: 1. Those who say This is old, therefore bad. 2. Those who say: This is new, therefore better. - Ted MacNEIL eamacn...@yahoo.ca Twitter: @TedMacNEIL -Original Message- From: Grinsell, Don dgrins...@mt.gov Sender: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 21:54:10 To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Reply-To: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché Hmm. In 1988 my military pay got messed up and it took more than a year and several letters to my congressman before it finally got resolved. It's not the COBOL that's at issue; it's the incompatible systems, multiple layers of bureaucracy and mostly the automated actions that occur without any human intervention or review. I truly feel for this guy and the others in his shoes. -- Donald Grinsell State of Montana 406-444-2983 dgrins...@mt.gov The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, and loyalty to the government when it deserves it. ~ Mark Twain -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil Smith III Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 2:35 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Blame the COBOL, how cliché http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentagon So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is old? Sheesh. That's really weak. Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacement. -- 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 -- 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 -- zMan -- I've got a mainframe and I'm not afraid to use it -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Blame the COBOL, how cliché
The problem isn't the code, it's 1) The documentation for it - explaining how it was built, what was in it, and how it works - disappeared long ago. 2) Significant parts of the code have been “corrupted.” 3) “As time passes, the pool of COBOL expertise dwindles.” 4) The political will and military bureaucracy is not there. As you all probably have come to the conclusion as I did there has been a lackadaisical attitude for decades and will continue. Sure they tried to update the systems but apparently haven't gotten very far and matters have only gotten worse. Yeah, blame COBOL. It's a lazy way out instead of admitting personnel failures. Scott On 07/24/2013 04:34 PM, Phil Smith III wrote: http://preview.reuters.com/2013/7/9/wounded-in-battle-stiffed-by-the-pentago n So the reason the payroll system is broken is because COBOL is “old”? Sheesh. That’s really weak… Oy, and they tried PeopleSoft as a replacement… -- 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
