Tom's Hardware learned that candidates would oversee machines running 166 MHz processors with 8 MB of RAM, which are used to display important technical train data to...
I would love it so much. I’d feel right at home. I miss sitting in my room and learning everything I could about DOS. That was the best time I ever had with computers.
I once built, setup, and maintained about 20 computers for a Christian school for free just because I loved doing it so much.
Frankly that’s nothing. In the worst case a train won’t start, which for DB really isn’t something unusual. It’s far more disturbing how the whole global financial market sometimes rely on code that’s still written in COBOL.
it matters because it is a language that few people learn, so the available talent is scarce, increasing the chance something bad happens. Keeping up with an evolving society is essential for the longevity of a service
I have a friend who is going to take over maintenance for a smaller regional banking system in a few years. It’s mostly COBOL and the systems themselves have not been updated in like 25-30 years. He has been apprenticing under his mother who has been in charge of maintaining the infrastructure there since the late '80s.
Well it matters when it comes to replacing ageing programmers with very few options available. It’s definitely not something taught in schools today, so one has to be very deliberately learn it.
Don’t get me wrong, you can make a lot of money in such a position. But you also have to deal with COBOL.
Only MS-DOS 1.25 and 2.0 are open-sourced under MIT license, anything newer is not. These versions were pretty bare-bones, only DOS 2.0 implemented directories for example.
Unless you mean FreeDOS, which is an open-source DOS-based operating system, which generally should work with any DOS programs/games, but it still may not be 100% compatible with some proprietary software.
Imagine both the annoyance and job security having to manage MS-DOS and 3.1 systems for a railroad would entail.
I would love it so much. I’d feel right at home. I miss sitting in my room and learning everything I could about DOS. That was the best time I ever had with computers.
I once built, setup, and maintained about 20 computers for a Christian school for free just because I loved doing it so much.
I wish I still had that enthusiasm for tech.
Frankly that’s nothing. In the worst case a train won’t start, which for DB really isn’t something unusual. It’s far more disturbing how the whole global financial market sometimes rely on code that’s still written in COBOL.
Does this really matter? It’s more of a maintenance issue than a functional one.
It all gets compiled down to binary, anyways.
it matters because it is a language that few people learn, so the available talent is scarce, increasing the chance something bad happens. Keeping up with an evolving society is essential for the longevity of a service
I have a friend who is going to take over maintenance for a smaller regional banking system in a few years. It’s mostly COBOL and the systems themselves have not been updated in like 25-30 years. He has been apprenticing under his mother who has been in charge of maintaining the infrastructure there since the late '80s.
Time 2 years top, there will be an AI that converts perfectly COBOL into JavaScript.
Well it matters when it comes to replacing ageing programmers with very few options available. It’s definitely not something taught in schools today, so one has to be very deliberately learn it.
Don’t get me wrong, you can make a lot of money in such a position. But you also have to deal with COBOL.
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Well, DOS is open source now. And that old hardware was quite reliable. Fewer moving parts, I’d expect fewer things to break.
Only MS-DOS 1.25 and 2.0 are open-sourced under MIT license, anything newer is not. These versions were pretty bare-bones, only DOS 2.0 implemented directories for example.
Unless you mean FreeDOS, which is an open-source DOS-based operating system, which generally should work with any DOS programs/games, but it still may not be 100% compatible with some proprietary software.
Yes, meant FreeDOS, and older versions of DOS. Can’t say I had issues with FreeDOS. But then again, it’s not like I use it daily.
As a young person who loves legacy software - sign me up!