From owner-freebsd-questions  Fri Dec 20 09:29:38 1996
Return-Path: <owner-questions>
Received: (from root@localhost)
          by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.4/8.8.4) id JAA28831
          for questions-outgoing; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 09:29:38 -0800 (PST)
Received: from superior.truenorth.org (ppp028-sm2.sirius.com [205.134.231.28])
          by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.4/8.8.4) with ESMTP id JAA28826
          for <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 09:29:32 -0800 (PST)
Received: (from jgrosch@localhost) by superior.truenorth.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id JAA01926; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 09:27:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Josef Grosch <jgrosch@superior.truenorth.org>
Message-Id: <199612201727.JAA01926@superior.truenorth.org>
Subject: Re: FreeBSD beats SCO at its own game
In-Reply-To: <199612201647.IAA04872@athena.tera.com> from Gary Kline at "Dec 20, 96 08:47:43 am"
To: kline@tera.com (Gary Kline)
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 09:27:21 -0800 (PST)
Cc: jgrosch@sirius.com, dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu, lenzi@bsi.com.br,
        brian@mediacity.com, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Reply-To: jgrosch@sirius.com
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL28 (25)]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
X-Loop: FreeBSD.org
Precedence: bulk

>According to Josef Grosch:
>> >On Thu, 19 Dec 1996, Lenzi, Sergio wrote:
>> >

[ DELETED ]

>> >COBOL...it never dies! :)
>> >
>
>		Really.  (I wonder what the `mf' in `mfcobol'
>			  stands for... .)
>

MicroFocus COBOL. MicroFocus is know for it's COBOL tools on UNIX. HP get
their compiler from them. 

>> 
>> The common wisdom has approximately 75% to 85% of all existing code is
>> written in COBOL. Most of it is 15 to 20 years old and in bad need of a
>> rewrite. Your checking account at your bank is maintained by a badly
>> documented, bug ridden, 20 year old cobol program running on an IBM
>> mainframe. Be afraid, be very afraid.
>> 
>> [ DELETED ]
>> 
>> 
>
>		Does anybody know if there are any translators
>		available that can transform COBOL to another,
>		more manageable language?  FORTRAN, for example.
>
>		Trying to de-kink the rats' nests of 
>		billions and billions [good bye, Carl] lines of
>		COBOL is death.  --This prob'ly belongs on the
>		chat lists, but I'd be interested if there is
>		such a translator.   This list would probably
>		know.....
>
>		gary kline
>

I have spent a lot of time contracting in big COBOL/IBM shops in Chicago
and I have not heard of one. Their maybe several out there but considering
what a unholy mess the average legacy program is I doubt they are any good.
Keep in mind COBOL is almost as old as FROTRAN (1957 - 1958) and each
manufacture had their own spin on COBOL, adding little "features" and miss
implemting other languages components. Write a __GOOD__ translator and the
world will beat a path to your door.


Josef "Recovering COBOL hacker" Grosch

-- 
Josef Grosch       | Laugh while you can, monkey boy ! |    FreeBSD 2.1.6
jgrosch@sirius.com |          - John Warfin -          | UNIX for the masses