🚀 go-pugleaf

j wrote:
> ... da...@XOUT.u.washington.edu (David B. Greene) wrote:
 
> >This is of course bullshit.  It is just a scare tactic for programmers
> >to LOOT the public purse. ...

>    I program for a living. Y2K is NOT a joke. It permeates almost
>    every bit of software in existence - industrial, military and
>    commercial. Much of my own old code assumes a "19xx"
>    date scheme and the logic which follows from that assumption
>    all has to be re-done. For example, it was often practical to
>    convert the numeric date into letter strings ... in order to
>    trim out redundant junk or for formatting purposes. Sometimes
>    this was changed back into numbers afterwards. It ALL
>    has to be re-done. There are no easy or automated fixes
>    because the REASONING of the program must be
>    carefully analyzed.

And it's not just the _programs_ that have to be fixed, but fixed for
all of the "old format" data bases that they might access. Good luck
finding all those data bases the first time. When fixing the software,
you'll have to recognize that an old-format data base is being accessed,
and trap to some routine to reformat the entire file, because the old
format won't have enough space allocated to store updated Y2K-enabled
dates. 

So even when you "fix the software," the problem's not over, because
every time you hit some data base file you didn't yet convert, there's
likely to be this incredibly long pause before your transaction can
continue. How much of that can major businesses put up with while trying
to function? 

>    And why did they wait so long to address this problem ???
>    Because that's what they ALWAYS do ... procrastinate.
>    It's time-consuming and expensive, so they kept putting
>    it off .... or those who knew nada about computers
>    imagined it would be quick and easy or that the computer
>    would "just know" what to do.
> 
>    Ignorance & cheapness. That's why Y2K is such a major
>    problem now. Wait until your local nuke plant screws up
>    because of this - or your airliners computer - or a cruise
>    missile -  or (worst of all) the local sewage treatment plant.

Has the market on COBOL programmers taken off, yet? 

Jim