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IBM COBOL for Linux on x86

www-01.ibm.com

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Re: IBM COBOL for Linux on x86

#3

Post by msgilligan »

I expected it to be Open Source, but it is not.

I had a few jobs where I programmed in COBOL when I was in college. Its probably just as well that it's not Open Source, because I was tempted to install it just for fun.

Re: IBM COBOL for Linux on x86

#6

Post by momothereal »

d_silin wrote: post #2

The lack of comments vs position on front page is intriguing.

The post just went up, people are still writing their insightful essays on their experience with COBOL, what this means for the future of the language, and speculating as for the reason IBM is porting their compiler to Linux. Can't wait!

Re: IBM COBOL for Linux on x86

#7

Post by d_silin »

msgilligan wrote: post #4
d_silin wrote: post #2

The lack of comments vs position on front page is intriguing.

There's nobody here (besides maybe me) old enough to have anything to say.

Well, I worked with COBOL developer team in Canadian bank a few years ago. It is absolutely alive and well in this industry.

Re: IBM COBOL for Linux on x86

#8

Post by kazinator »

> Memory requirements are as follows:

> Minimum 250 MB for product packages

> Minimum 2 GB of hard drive space for paging

> Minimum 512 MB for temporary files

> Minimum 2 GB RAM, with 4 GB more optimal

Ouch; this ain't your grandpa's lean and mean Cobol.

Re: IBM COBOL for Linux on x86

#9

Post by ajross »

I'm just imagining the level of jaw dropping and brain exploding that would have gone on had that same headline been published in 1998.

Obviously at this point almost three decades into the internet era no one really cares. We all know that "somewhere" old COBOL code is running, but in practice the companies managing the bulk of data for society didn't even exist before Y2K. Everyone with unmaintainable COBOL has long since migrated to really bad Java code instead.

But... yeah. Linux is now an official heir to the S/360. We've made it. Finally.

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