They Can’t “Account” For The Money
Dan Dupont at reports on Pentagon Financial Systems: Still a Mess
Given that some of the computer systems in question “run on old-style I.B.M. mainframes and rely on Cobol, the ancient Sumerian of computer languages,” none of this should be much of a surprise.
“This was a bunch of systems patched together,” says Greg Bitz, a former director of the center. “I never went home at night without worrying about one of them crashing.” Bitz predicts a crisis as older programmers retire. “Try to find somebody today who knows Cobol,” he says.
Portfolio’s story is accompanied by a time line of efforts to reform the system since 1968, though it misses a key moment from 1997, when John Hamre, then the Pentagon comptroller, was being grilled by a lawmaker during a hearing on the woeful state of Pentagon financial computer systems. His answer: “The good news, sir, is they’re all going to collapse in the year 2000.”
So the problem is COBOL. Wikipedia notes:
April 15, 2008 17 Comments
This Is Just Pathetic
Via PSoTD, the Pennsylvania Progressive is shutting down after 23 months because of a complaint filed with TypePad by another supposed progressive who is a local Democratic party functionary.
This is how you lose elections.
April 15, 2008 4 Comments
Happy Blogiversary Plus
Keith Kisser at Invisible Library is celebrating his fifth blogiversary™ and the publication of his book, The Machine of the World.
April 15, 2008 5 Comments
Happy Whatever
Tax Day
Borrring
[Editor: This is my tax return from last year.]
April 15, 2008 5 Comments
