"Hands off working COBOL code" –protest sign in NYC(old.reddit.com)
50 pointsby davidmurphy11 days ago4 comments
  • edgineer11 days ago
    I see two meanings: 1. He's protesting DOGE's reignition of the SSA codebase overhaul 2. He's making a joke that you don't dare touch a running legacy system because you'll break it

    He probably means the second, but the first was my initial thought (I hear COBOL programmers make upwards of $1000/hr). Fixing these old systems has been on my mind.

    • benzado11 days ago
      That’s me in the photo. I don’t trust the guy behind recalled Cybertrucks and exploding rockets to oversee a total rewrite of a functioning, mission critical system.
      • edgineer10 days ago
        Thanks for correcting me. Didn't realize people held that opinion.
        • aisenik10 days ago
          These guys just wiped 14,000 tapes to put the government's backups and record keeping in the cloud. To "save" $1m. And bragged about it.

          They aren't competent, they are malicious. Musk scraped some racist blackhat Kiwifarms posters together and is their leader in a putsch with the goal of systematically destroying the United States government.

          The fact that you couldn't fathom people are opposed to his machinations suggests to me you exist within a heavily-manipulated and controlled media environment. These guys are literally white supremacist fascists plunging the global economy into depression, disappearing the populace into foreign death camps, and arming up for WW3. This is not an exaggeration.

    • jpfr11 days ago
      Given the context he means the first.
    • FooBarBizBazz11 days ago
      Why not 1 because 2?
  • cafard10 days ago
    Not a sign I ever expected to see. I heartily endorse the sentiment, though.
  • johntitorjr11 days ago
    [dead]
  • aaron69511 days ago
    [flagged]
    • sorcerer-mar11 days ago
      > Update it, it has to be done, these archaic systems are already continuously hurting people.

      This is a very strong claim. Do you have citations for it? (I mean for SSA, not an unrelated system that happens to be written in the same language)