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NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:07:35 +0000
Subject: Re: Rewriting SSA. Is This A Chance For GNU/Linux?
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From: c186282 <c186282@nnada.net>
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2025 22:07:13 -0400
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On 4/1/25 3:16 PM, John Ames wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Apr 2025 15:09:13 -0400
> c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> wrote:
> 
>> So, I'll stick with the *carefully* warning - and don't take down
>> What Works until it's very reliably duplicated by the newer code.
> 
> But really, good sir, How Hard Could It Be!? (TM)

   If it was remotely easy they'd have done it a
   long time ago. Even a crappy PC has more oomph
   than those 60s mini's and mainframes. Even RUST
   is more readable these days than that old COBOL.

   Bureaucrats DREAD changes - esp in IT equipment.
   They WILL drag their feet, stick with what they
   KNOW works, to the very last. Mistakes = horrible
   career collapses - maybe even no pension & perks !

   Alas, those 60s boxes ... yea, kinda TIME now.
   Almost nobody does five lines of COBOL anymore.
   The annoyance is that I've NEVER seen a utility
   that turns good COBOL into good anything else.
   It all kinda has to be re-done in a 'more modern'
   lang BY HAND, line by line with lots of comments.

   And no, GNU 'COBOL' ain't what most of that old
   code was writ in ....... those were COBOL distros
   unique to the antique boxes in question.

   Now, the contentious part - WHAT to re-write in ?
   IMHO ... PYTHON. It's readable and totally capable
   and widely known. Good for the next 25+ years.

   After that, it's all 'AI' and NOBODY will grok
   the code and methods ... all 'magic' thereafter,
   maybe evil magic ..........