Streaming data support for #COBOL. Adds a processing mode to augment Batch and Transaction style processing:
https://hackernoon.com/announcing-the-cobol-streamhouse?ref=hackernoon.com
What could possibly go wrong? #DOGE to rapidly rebuild #SocialSecurity codebase.
A safe and proper rewrite should take years not months.
The project organized by #Musk lieutenant #SteveDavis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talktell WIRED, and aims to migrate all #SSA systems off #COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like #Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/what-could-possibly-go-wrong-doge-to-rapidly-rebuild-social-security-codebase/
US : le DOGE veut migrer le code de la Sécurité sociale en urgence. Il est écrit en COBOL.
https://next.ink/178163/us-le-doge-veut-migrer-le-code-de-la-securite-sociale-en-urgence-il-est-ecrit-en-cobol/
If you follow #tech for some time now, you've heard of the giant ship of Theseus, built like a house of cards that is #US infrastructure. #COBOL is also still the go-to for the #FinanceIndustry.
Two things can be wrong at the same time tho:
COBOL does need replacing and there should be an actual public-ptivate partnership to replace it, but you shouldn't "move fast and break" people's lives.
#ElonMusk Secretly Working to Rewrite the #SocialSecurity Codebase Using #AI
https://futurism.com/elon-musk-rewriting-social-security-code-ai
<- Das Smiley reicht nicht aus, um die Dummheit des Unterfangens abzuzeichnen!
Es haben schon ganz andere versucht, COBOL-Applikationen mit was anderem zu ersetzen.
Das wird crashen! Und zwar richtig!
> #DOGE nimmt sich offenbar #COBOL bei US-Sozialkasse vor – Experten warnen | heise online
> Die US-Behörde für #Bürokratieabbau will eine elementare Programmiersprache in kürzester Zeit ersetzen. Das weckt Befürchtungen.
Am I the only one who's thinking of learning #COBOL just to see whether the idea of replacing the US Social Security codebase is *exactly* as delusional as I think or whether it is far more delusional than that?
DOGE Plans to Rebuild [US Social Security COBOL] Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse | WIRED
https://alecmuffett.com/article/113053
#SoftwareEngineering #cobol #doge #trump
»DOGE nimmt sich offenbar COBOL bei US-Sozialkasse vor – Experten warnen:
Die US-Behörde für Bürokratieabbau will eine elementare Programmiersprache in kürzester Zeit ersetzen. Das weckt Befürchtungen.«
Wenn es dieswegen in der USA zu "Sicherheitslücken" in der IT kommen könnte?!?? Klar soll Code immer wieder aktualisiert werden, geschieht aber allgemein selten aber so sicherlich nicht.
What could possibly go wrong? #DOGE to rapidly rebuild #SocialSecurity #codebase.
Under any circumstances, a migration of this size and scale would be a massive undertaking, experts tell WIRED, but the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to the more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits.
#cobol #ssa #takeover #retirement #takedown #maga #trump
> sadly, most likely crash and burn
There’s [intentionally] so much to keep track of right now as #DOGE et al flood the zone with shit.
I’ve enjoyed chuckling at the doge-bags’ foolish / impossible shenanigans, like the rewriting of the Social Security database.
However, this wise commenter reminds us of the over-arching goal:
> The point of this isn't to rewrite SSA, it's to funnel SSA through Musk's burgeoning American WeChat and, as a stretch goal, break SSA so badly that they can just do away with it entirely.
> We need to stop sanewashing and positing that these twerps' intent is something noble but their methods are misguided.
> They aren't.
> They want to break the state and make money on the pieces. Everything else is window dressing.
Hat tip to @arstechnica for all of your great reporting.
Archaic? That's a bit harsh. I used to code on COBOL.
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1034285321900393&id=100059568037979
Oh dear.
"DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse.
Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in #COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—#DOGE wants it done in months."
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
All the world's computer science professors just sat up like meerkats, sensing the imminent arrival of a new high-profile disaster case study in how not to do a major software project.
If an unqualified hand is used now, the entire social security system will crash. If mistakes happen HERE, no policyholder will ever be able to prove ANYTHING. Nor will they be able to sue to fight mistakes. That would be the end of the social security system in America. Only an immediate general strike can help here. IN SHORT ORDER!
Wenn da jetzt unqualifiziert Hand angelegt wird, dann kracht das gesamte Sozialversicherungssystem zusammen. Wenn HIER Fehler passieren, wird kein Versicherungsnehmer je mehr in der Lage sein, IRGENDETWAS zu beweisen. Er wird bei Fehlern auch nicht klagen können. Das wäre das Ende des Sozialversicherungssystems in Amerika. Hier kann nur noch ein sofort Generalstreik helfen. UNVERZÜGLICH.
What a bunch of morons... 
#DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA #Codebase in Months, #Risking Benefits and System #Collapse
"Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in #COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.
Musk pointed to data he allegedly pulled from the system that showed 150-year-olds in the US were receiving benefits, something that isn’t actually happening..."
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
Your periodic reminder that old #COBOL isn't only old COBOL. It is IBM assembler with some COBOL for the easier parts. Business apps written in assembler because the COBOL wasn't fast enough.
I can get the gist of code in most languages, but when I look at edin (assembler!) I can't figure out what is going on despite profuse comments.
"The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is starting to put together a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) computer systems entirely off one of its oldest programming languages in a matter of months, potentially putting the integrity of the system—and the benefits on which tens of millions of Americans rely—at risk.
The project is being organized by Elon Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talk to the media tell WIRED, and aims to migrate all SSA systems off COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.
Under any circumstances, a migration of this size and scale would be a massive undertaking, experts tell WIRED, but the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to the more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits."
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
I asked #Grok: "What are the chances of success for Elon Musk's / DOGE's plan of rewriting (in two month's time) the SSA's COBOL codebase using AI?"
"[…] the chances of success […] are extremely low, likely in the single-digit percentage range (e.g., 5-10% at best).
This estimate assumes DOGE has exceptional resources and AI capabilities beyond what’s publicly known […] The stakes are high, and the margin for error is razor-thin."
https://x.com/i/grok/share/n9svocmPv28oPUXlCbbJruxTS
#DOGE plans to rebuild #SSA's antiquated #COBOL code base in months instead of the years it'd take to do it safely, risking benefits & system collapse.
But, hey, when did Musk/Trump/DOGE ever give a crap about doing anything safely? Or right?
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/
