• FidoGazette Vol 14 no 14 Page: 3

    From Janis Kracht@1:261/38 to All on Wed Apr 8 16:55:32 2020


    ================================================================
    A Call For COBAL Programmers
    ================================================================



    A Call For COBAL Programmers
    by Janis Kracht

    Link to this article:
    https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/business/coronavirus-cobol-
    programmers-new-jersey-trnd/index.html [link wraps]

    "Wanted urgently: People who know a half century-old computer
    language so states can process unemployment claims"

    Do you know cobol? How you can help:

    Go to the link at the top of this article to read more, please
    Here is part of the article at the above link:

    (CNN)On top of ventilators, face masks and health care workers,
    you can now add COBOL programmers to the list of what several
    states urgently need as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.
    In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy has put out a call for
    volunteers who know how to code the decades-old computer
    programming language called COBOL because many of the state's
    systems still run on older mainframes. In Kansas, Gov. Laura
    Kelly said the state's Departments of Labor was in the process
    of modernizing from COBOL but then the virus interfered. "So
    they're operating on really old stuff," she said. Connecticut
    has also admitted that it's struggling to process the large
    volume of unemployment claims with its "40-year-old system
    comprised of a COBOL mainframe and four other separate systems."
    The state is working to develop a new benefits system with
    Maine, Rhode Island, Mississippi and Oklahoma. But the system
    won't be finished before next year. "Literally, we have systems
    that are 40-plus-years-old," New Jersey Gov. Murphy said over
    the weekend. "There'll be lots of postmortems and one of them
    on our list will be how did we get here where we literally
    needed COBOL programmers?"

    Coders have moved away from the aging language COBOL, which
    stands for Common Business Oriented Language, is a computer
    programming language that was developed back in 1959, according
    to the National Museum of American History. "It's a programming
    language that was used to create a very significant percentage
    of business systems over the period of the 60s, 70s and even
    into the 80s," Joseph Steinberg, an expert on cybersecurity,
    told CNN. But over time, coders have moved away from the aging
    language. "The general population of COBOL programmers is
    generally much older than the average age of a coder," Steinberg
    said. "Many American universities have not taught COBOL in
    their computer science programs since the 1980s." Yet, the
    program persists in systems Despite a dwindling number of COBOL
    programmers, a 2017 report by Reuters found that there are still
    220 billion lines of COBOL in use today. 43% of banking systems
    are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM swipes rely on COBOL
    code. Even in the federal government, COBOL is being used in
    agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department
    of Justice and Social Security Administration, according to a
    2016 report by the Government Accountability Office. A 2018
    report by the inspector general for the Social Security
    Administration found that the administration maintained more
    than "60 million lines of COBOL" with "millions more lines of
    other legacy programming languages." The inspector general urged
    the administration to modernize its systems.

    With more than 44,000 Covid-19 cases in New Jersey, the last
    thing the governor should have to worry about are computer
    systems, Steinberg, the cybersecurity expert, said. "Governors
    should not have to think about computer systems during a
    pandemic," he said, "and we should have systems that if there
    are emergency situations, should not make the emergencies
    worse."
    [...]

    JK


    FIDOGAZETTE Vol 14 No 14 Page 3 April 08, 2020


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  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to Janis Kracht on Wed Apr 8 17:46:00 2020
    Hello Janis!

    ** 08.04.20 - 16:50, Janis Kracht wrote to All:

    In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy has put out a call for
    volunteers who know how to code the decades-old computer
    programming language called COBOL because many of the state's
    systems still run on older mainframes..


    Hey.. I worked with COBOL back in the day! But I wouldn't do any of
    that as a volunteer. No way. But I suppose someone might be willing to donate their time for that grunge work.

    ...43% of banking systems are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM
    swipes rely on COBOL code.


    I remember reading somewhere that most ATMs ran on OS/2 and even Linux and then switched to a Windows variant.


    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.43
    * Origin: /|ug's Point, Ont. CANADA (2:221/1.58)
  • From Janis Kracht@1:261/38 to August Abolins on Wed Apr 8 21:56:22 2020
    Hi August,

    programming language called COBOL because many of the state's
    systems still run on older mainframes..

    Hey.. I worked with COBOL back in the day! But I wouldn't do any of
    that as a volunteer. No way. But I suppose someone might be willing to donate their time for that grunge work.

    There are a lot of people out of work right now, some might be willing to donate their time, who knows. Perhaps helping out will lead to $$ later.. I can't know of course.

    ...43% of banking systems are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM
    swipes rely on COBOL code.

    I remember reading somewhere that most ATMs ran on OS/2 and even Linux and then switched to a Windows variant.

    I remember reading that as well, but I also know from one of my uncles that a larger number of them ran COBOL.. at least that was "then".. I don't know about now.

    Take care,
    Janis

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)
  • From Nigel Reed@1:124/5016 to August Abolins on Wed Apr 8 23:51:06 2020
    August wrote:
    I remember reading somewhere that most ATMs ran on OS/2 and even Linux and then switched to a Windows variant.

    I once drove up to the ATM and it had BSOD so I can confirm :)
    --- SBBSecho 3.10-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (1:124/5016)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/360 to Janis Kracht on Thu Apr 9 18:38:08 2020
    On 08/04/2020 10:51 p.m., Janis Kracht : August Abolins wrote:

    Hey.. I worked with COBOL back in the day! But I wouldn't do any
    of that as a volunteer. No way.

    There are a lot of people out of work right now, some might be
    willing to donate their time, who knows. Perhaps helping out will
    lead to $$ later.. I can't know of course.

    Out of work does not translate to "ok, let's volunteer!". It would take a truely altruistic (+ young/healthy) person to do that at this time of lockdown with no source of income. Maybe there are a few talented people who don't need the money. I seriously doubt there are young COBOL programmers at this time.



    "lead to $$ later" ??? A possibility. But after the fix is done, I doubt it.

    There was quite a frantic need for COBOL programmers just before Y2K. I heard the pay was most excellent. ;)



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  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Thu Apr 9 16:35:00 2020
    Hey.. I worked with COBOL back in the day! But I wouldn't do any of
    that as a volunteer. No way. But I suppose someone might be willing to donate their time for that grunge work.

    I am a COBOL developer. They'd have to pay me big bucks to get me to give
    up my job and move to NJ. :)

    Mike


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    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)
  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to JANIS KRACHT on Thu Apr 9 16:37:00 2020
    ...43% of banking systems are built on COBOL and 95% percent of ATM
    swipes rely on COBOL code.

    I remember reading somewhere that most ATMs ran on OS/2 and even Linux and then switched to a Windows variant.

    I remember reading that as well, but I also know from one of my uncles that a larger number of them ran COBOL.. at least that was "then".. I don't know
    abou
    now.

    I heard that about ATMs, but I am pretty certain that the back end systems
    are mainframe systems, probably running COBOL code.

    Mike


    * SLMR 2.1a * A restless eye across a weary room...
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    * Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)
  • From Fabio Bizzi@2:335/364.1 to Mike Powell on Sat Apr 11 19:44:44 2020
    Hello Mike!

    09 Apr 20 16:37, you wrote to JANIS KRACHT:

    I heard that about ATMs, but I am pretty certain that the back end
    systems are mainframe systems, probably running COBOL code.

    Usually ATMs run windows, the backend instead is on legacy systems, Zseries, rarely on S390 (too old now), generally apps are transactional and run on CICS,
    z/OS or similar.

    Some time ago, more or less 5 or 7 yeats ago, A big Italian bank was bought by a French one and all the data center moved from Italy to France. At that time I
    was in the bank's data center to certify the internal ethernet network and i saw a couple of S390 that was packed to be shipped in France. Also a Z10 mainframe was there.

    Ciao!
    Fabio

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: ]\/[imac Rebirth Boss Point (2:335/364.1)
  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to FABIO BIZZI on Sat Apr 11 20:06:00 2020
    Usually ATMs run windows, the backend instead is on legacy systems, Zseries, rarely on S390 (too old now), generally apps are transactional and run on
    CICS
    z/OS or similar.

    Some time ago, more or less 5 or 7 yeats ago, A big Italian bank was bought
    by
    a French one and all the data center moved from Italy to France. At that time was in the bank's data center to certify the internal ethernet network and i saw a couple of S390 that was packed to be shipped in France. Also a Z10 mainframe was there.

    Fabio,
    That is interesting. Thanks for sharing!

    Mike


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  • From Janis Kracht@1:261/38 to Fabio Bizzi on Sun Apr 12 16:07:02 2020
    Hi Fabio!

    How are you doing? I hope all is good with you and your family in this difficult time across the world! I haven't had time to contact you since our last emails/netmails quite a while ago (we were talking about great Italian recipes<g>).. Today I made a ricotta cake for Easter Dinner dessert, and last night I think I made some 100+ ravioli for our Easter dinner tonight :)

    Sadly because of "Social Distancing" and Covid-19, my Daughter and grandsons will not be with us (they live in Philadelphia, quite a distance from New York where Ron, my son and I live... but perhaps tonight we will try to set up a "Video-chat" between us all... I am looking forward to that tonight :)

    Some time ago, more or less 5 or 7 yeats ago, A big Italian bank was bought by >a French one and all the data center moved from Italy to France. At that time
    was in the bank's data center to certify the internal ethernet network and i saw a couple of S390 that was packed to be shipped in France. Also a Z10 mainframe was there.

    That is interesting, my friend. Thank you for telling us about that. I've never worked on a mainframe, but a long time ago Ron and I did some development
    work on Z80's.. boy that was a long time ago <grin>

    Happy Easter!

    Ciao!
    Janis

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  • From Fabio Bizzi@2:335/364.1 to Janis Kracht on Fri Apr 17 15:27:52 2020
    Hello Janis!

    12 Apr 20 16:07, you wrote to me:

    How are you doing? I hope all is good with you and your family in
    this difficult time across the world!

    We're well, locked in our home we go out only to buy food and basic necessities, I hope that you and your family are ok. :)

    I haven't had time to contact
    you since our last emails/netmails quite a while ago (we were talking about great Italian recipes<g>).. Today I made a ricotta cake for
    Easter Dinner dessert, and last night I think I made some 100+ ravioli
    for our Easter dinner tonight :)

    GREAT! :)
    We had a sad easter, only my family, usually we are used to spent the easter holidays with both my parents and my parents in law familys, but this easter we
    couldn't.

    But I did the homemade fettuccine and my wife did the sauce with mushrooms, peas, sausages and cream, and the traditional oven baked lamb with potatoes. All in all we did not happen badly. ;)

    Sadly because of "Social Distancing" and Covid-19, my Daughter and grandsons will not be with us (they live in Philadelphia, quite a
    distance from New York where Ron, my son and I live... but perhaps
    tonight we will try to set up a "Video-chat" between us all... I am looking forward to that tonight :)

    Sometime the technology bring us nearest, sometimes is the opposite, I'm glad that this time the good one will happen. :)

    That is interesting, my friend. Thank you for telling us about that.
    I've never worked on a mainframe, but a long time ago Ron and I did
    some development work on Z80's.. boy that was a long time ago <grin>

    I didn't worked on mainframes, the biggest iron where I worked on was a never forget VAX 11/780, wonderful machine, I still love it, and I loce VMS O.S. too.
    :)

    Now I like to play on emulated PDP/11s and emulated VAXes, RSX-11M-PLUS and VMS
    are great OSes, do you know that a swedish is still devolping on PDP11s?
    Johnny Billquist has released a TCP/IP suite for the RSX-11M-PLUS O.S.
    If you like you can telnet to gnappy.bizzi.org to have a test drive:

    GUEST login with password "LUTHER"
    To log in, type "HELLO" or "LOGIN"
    To log out type "BYE" ;)

    Or if you want to have a trip on VMS telnet ploffy.bizzi.org:

    GUEST login with no password.

    Maybe I could start to learn cobol development on these platforms. :P :P :P

    Take care. :)

    Ciao!
    Fabio

    --- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
    * Origin: ]\/[imac Rebirth Boss Point (2:335/364.1)
  • From Janis Kracht@1:261/38 to Fabio Bizzi on Fri Apr 17 21:05:36 2020
    Hi Fabio!

    How are you doing? I hope all is good with you and your family in
    this difficult time across the world!

    We're well, locked in our home we go out only to buy food and basic necessities,

    Yes, understand exactly what you mean... over here, Ron, my husband, is the only one to go out when we need basic necessities. One of my very best friends
    sent us 3 masks that she made herself, it was so kind of her to do that :) So now when Ron must go out to the store, he can wear one of those masks.

    Just before the Corona Virus hit here in New York, I purchased a large order of
    beef (I think it was 1/2 a cow IIRC) from one of our local farmers, and I am so
    glad now that we did that. My freezer is very full with a number of different cuts of beef, so that is good.

    I hope that you and your family are ok. :)

    Yes, we are fine, thank you :) My daughter and her 3 sons who live in Philadelphia would normally have come "home" for Easter dinner, but they did not come this year because of the Corona virus threat :( We did have a video "chat" on Easter evening so that was great to talk with them all, and to see her, her husband and my grandsons in our 'teleconference'... It is not the same
    as visiting in person, but it was great to talk to them all and to know that they are safe and healthy. :)

    I haven't had time to contact
    you since our last emails/netmails quite a while ago (we were talking
    about great Italian recipes<g>).. Today I made a ricotta cake for
    Easter Dinner dessert, and last night I think I made some 100+ ravioli
    for our Easter dinner tonight :)

    GREAT! :)

    Yes, I froze half of the Ravioli for another time :) The Ricotta cake came out
    great, I made it with a delicious crust flavored with marsala wine. Normally, I don't make it with a crust (pie shell)... but because we were eating with just Ron, myself and my son, I made the pie shell as well. It was a nice change :)

    We had a sad easter, only my family, usually we are used to spent the easter
    holidays with both my parents and my parents in law familys, but this easter >we couldn't.

    I understand... :(

    But I did the homemade fettuccine and my wife did the sauce with mushrooms, peas, sausages and cream, and the traditional oven baked lamb with potatoes. All in all we did not happen badly. ;)

    That sounds so delicious :) I can imagine how good the sauce with mushrooms, peas, sausages and cream tasted :) I also love baked lamb... It sounds like a really good dinner.

    Sadly because of "Social Distancing" and Covid-19, my Daughter and
    grandsons will not be with us (they live in Philadelphia, quite a
    distance from New York where Ron, my son and I live... but perhaps
    tonight we will try to set up a "Video-chat" between us all... I am
    looking forward to that tonight :)

    Sometime the technology bring us nearest, sometimes is the opposite, I'm glad that this time the good one will happen. :)

    Yes, it was great to talk with them all :)

    That is interesting, my friend. Thank you for telling us about that.
    I've never worked on a mainframe, but a long time ago Ron and I did
    some development work on Z80's.. boy that was a long time ago <grin>

    I didn't worked on mainframes, the biggest iron where I worked on was a never
    forget VAX 11/780, wonderful machine, I still love it, and I loce VMS O.S. too
    :)

    Now I like to play on emulated PDP/11s and emulated VAXes, RSX-11M-PLUS and VM
    are great OSes, do you know that a swedish is still devolping on PDP11s?

    No, I did not know that :) It's been a long time since I "played" in that world <vbg>

    Johnny Billquist has released a TCP/IP suite for the RSX-11M-PLUS O.S.
    If you like you can telnet to gnappy.bizzi.org to have a test drive:

    I may do so :) I did visit his web pages and saw some information there about him :)

    GUEST login with password "LUTHER"
    To log in, type "HELLO" or "LOGIN"
    To log out type "BYE" ;)

    Or if you want to have a trip on VMS telnet ploffy.bizzi.org:

    GUEST login with no password.

    Thank you for that information, I may take a look some time soon :)

    Maybe I could start to learn cobol development on these platforms. :P :P :P

    :) :)

    Take care,
    Janis

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
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