Post

WIRED
@wired.com

BREAKING: DOGE is starting to put together a team to migrate the SSA's 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.

wired.comDOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase In Months, Risking Benefits and System CollapseSocial 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.

3.1K reposts6.2K likes

WIRED
@wired.com

The project is being organized by Elon Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, sources who were not given permission to talk to the media tell WIRED. Experts say the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits.

wired.comDOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase In Months, Risking Benefits and System CollapseSocial 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.
pfsdoglover.bsky.social
@pfsdoglover.bsky.social

While this is against my personal interest and I know innocents will be harmed, my hope is that Musk destroys Social Security and Medicare. That might be the only thing that saves our democracy. So few seem care about the incredible amount of unlawful activity (so little outrage on immigration)

pfsdoglover.bsky.social
@pfsdoglover.bsky.social

Sorry my comment wasn’t clear enough I am so alarmed by all that is happening that maybe the only way to save our democracy is for something catastrophic to happen - like the gutting of Social Security by Musk/Trump. Don’t want it, but it might wake up Americans to fight back. So I am with you.

Provisional Govt
@kalekai.bsky.social

New flash: President Trump has signed an executive order ending collective bargaining for wide swaths of federal employees, as part of his broader campaign to reshape the U.S. government's workforce. The largest federal employee union says the order affects over 1 million workers.

Alice Urbanist
@alicewanders.bsky.social

Another day, another lawsuit to distract and destroy. Those EO things re not laws. They are directions to stuff s to how to carry our laws. Every member of Congress needs to get constant letters and calls to do their jobs!

soxinmi.bsky.social
@soxinmi.bsky.social

I am sure one of the reasons it’s on such an old system is because it’s hard to hack it just based on the lack of full code integration. Said another way- it’s so old the technology to hack it isn’t really around anymore. Moving it makes it vulnerable to modern hackers.

Swinny
@jrswin1.bsky.social

This will end so badly! Most big banks still use COBOL based mainframes for billions of transactions because.........wait for it..........they work really well

antonomase.bsky.social
@antonomase.bsky.social

Musk / DOGE downloaded a read-only copy of the Enterprise Data Warehouse & the Master Beneficiary Record to Tesla xAI in Memphis TN Tesla xAI training LLMs on SSA data Tesla xAI creating AI Agents operational over ALL US Taxpayer IDs Musk stealing our data, to build Tesla xAI which belongs to Musk

Progressive Poet
@caligreg.bsky.social

Explosive Incompetence As Teslas and SpaceX rockets explode, Musk looks down the Social Security road. His kiddie programers will probably screw up. 65 million American lives they’ll interrupt.

WIRED
@wired.com

“Of course one of the big risks is not underpayment or overpayment per se but [it’s also] not paying someone at all and not knowing about it. The invisible errors and omissions,” an SSA technologist tells WIRED. Read the full scoop here:

wired.comDOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase In Months, Risking Benefits and System CollapseSocial 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.
BobInCT
@bobinct.bsky.social

I remember when the IRS software was being “rewritten“ and the final product was so screwed up that they ultimately went back to the old software which I think is still being used. I can easily see that happening here. And in the meantime, checks don’t go out.

Fredxie
@rodgilbert.bsky.social

Who actually is doing the engineering and coding? Government employees? Contractors? -it contractors are they being paid? If so was there a RFP? Or just chosen without scrutiny? Or in other words corruptly?

martin012.bsky.social
@martin012.bsky.social

Remember, if you complain about not receiving your social security check then you have been receiving your payment fraudulently. If you are a green card holder who complains, you may find yourself on an all expenses paid, one way trip to El Salvador.

hard-a-lee.bsky.social
@hard-a-lee.bsky.social

Who is authorized to approve this project? Who is authorized to pay Musk without open bidding? And who is authorized to give our taxpayer dollars to Musk to enable him to "disrupt" our government agencies? What expertise does Musk have in these agencies roles, HR and law for ANY Of this?

Maverick
@maverickgator.bsky.social

I'm not against updating the system. BUT, a) I don't trust Elmo, and b) I would worry about a system collapse, so I would want it done well not fast. This is where Elmo would excel. A major technology project. These major change overs happen all the time.

LilyWight
@lilywight.bsky.social

Besides, this shouldn't be "rewrite the code". That's an ignorant, amateur approach. What should happen is that the system requirements should be fully understood, and a completely new system designed and built. The reason is hasn't been done is understaffing and underfunding.

kevin1049.bsky.social
@kevin1049.bsky.social

And what a great opportunity to install a back door. The names, addresses, financial info on every SS recipient will wind up in an FSB database, which they can use to bring down the whole American financial system. The bigger the flag waver, the more you should distrust them.

InfinitelyLoopy
@infinitelyloopy.bsky.social

If you’re going to undertake this project - and SSA should - pretty sure these are the last people you would hire. Which is, I suppose, the point. Irreparably break the system and force it to be privatized. They could possibly hurt millions of the most valuable people in our society. Evil.

Bob N
@bobgoose.bsky.social

I was in IT for 45 years. Totally agree. I would estimate years. As mentioned, testing needs to be through. I would say as much as NASA does for the safety of human life.

Outspoken™️
@out5p0ken.bsky.social

With the rush being to destroy the system to make it seem as if it wasn’t really working and allow its collapse. When millions of Americans who are elderly and / or disabled don’t get their checks I hope the streets are full. Fuck this! Get Elon out of our shit!

Julie Bee🐝🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸
@junebug1925.bsky.social

Who is really going to fill the streets if they aren’t the elderly or disabled who will be without the $1098 a month they need to live in without an inheritance or 401k left? People who aren’t 65 yet, barely care for their elderly relatives let alone strangers. This is a mess

upchuck66.bsky.social
@upchuck66.bsky.social

I absolutely believe destroying the SS system will trigger the prerequisite rage that’ll have millions of us pouring into the streets nationwide. I also believe that the Orc will exploit protests that size to justify immediate invocation of the Insurrection Act which this nut is itching to invoke.

phv3773.bsky.social
@phv3773.bsky.social

A high prportion of large scale computer projects fail. Things that can happen: project crashes in the middle because of major flaws in the design, or because of acccumulated bugs that are hard to fix, project crashes at the end because of difficulty move data from the old system to the new.

Margiem
@margiem.bsky.social

Every day get loud, show up and every day call your reps and Mike Johnson (202) 225-2777 John Thune (202) 224-2321 Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542 Hakeem Jefferies (202) 225-5936 Call for impeachment or treason charges. Use 5calls.org if you need help.

Margiem
@margiem.bsky.social

Every day get loud, show up and every day call your reps and Mike Johnson (202) 225-2777 John Thune (202) 224-2321 Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542 Hakeem Jefferies (202) 225-5936 Call for impeachment or treason charges. Use 5calls.org if you need help.

marmalade kid🇨🇦
@marmaladekid.bsky.social

It appears to me they are trying to fix something that is not broken, in addition any effort of this nature should be led by people answerable to Congress (actual SSA staff), one can see doge messing everything up then walking away.

Mr. Fokus
@fokus.bsky.social

Well I wouldn't say it's not broken. There are some serious issues with some of the SSA IT system, but I doubt has to do with the type of code but more with bugs in the code.

sikntyrd70.bsky.social
@sikntyrd70.bsky.social

My employer spent $23M to have recent IT grads working for Deloitte reinstall PeopleSoft as a “vanilla” platform. It took 18 months and cost us another $9M to make whole every employee whose leave accumulations were negatively impacted by the new version. This will be a disaster.

Auntie Falala
@beldame25.bsky.social

It’s a great equalizer. If my SS disappears into another Musk lackey screw up so does the SS of every MAGA. And they will screw it up. People may say “move on” over Signal idiocy, but take away their money and just listen how loud and long the screaming.

catznjam.bsky.social
@catznjam.bsky.social

They're moving fast and breaking things on purpose, y'all - that's the plan, but I hope it's their ultimate undoing - if people don't get their Social Security payments on time and without a hitch, the way they ALWAYS have, the SSA has never ever missed ONCE in all these years, remember that!!

catznjam.bsky.social
@catznjam.bsky.social

Is it the X payment app they are going to use? And is anyone going to stop them from breaking every law in the book, just because he's an asshole wealthy conman with so many US government contracts? US taxpayers are paying for THIS? Really? We'll see about that.

Mike Friedman
@mfriedmannola.bsky.social

This is so deeply stupid. They don't even understand the code that exists (because they don't know COBOL) so how can they possibly think they'll fix an enormous vastly complicated system in months? This is another one of Musky's dumb deadlines that is meaningless and that he just made up.

Rodger Raino
@rraino.bsky.social

These doofus code bros have no idea how different COBAL is from anything they've *ever* encountered Imagine using pastry chef techniques to try and make surf & turf for the first time for a 500 person wedding reception in 2 hours... Take it DogeBoys

Flobby
@flobby.bsky.social

Grandma doesn’t need her heart meds. She needs a protein heavy diet and she needs to lift HEAVY. Grandma should bang out some HIIT twice a week and don’t forget your PreWorkout! Get Swoll eat raw meat and stop being a pussy, Grandma!!

AlanoftheNovels
@alanofthenovels.bsky.social

Secretary Clinton has it exactly right in today's NYT when she calls this administration dumb. Dumb is also dangerous. In the Signal screw-up it was dangerous for our military. In this case it's dangerous for both the people who rely on SS and the people who are putting those people at risk. Dumb.

angleintraining.bsky.social
@angleintraining.bsky.social

If you are turning 65 you can keep your employer based healthcare plan but if on marketplace healthcare you just lose your money you paid out of pocket towards your deductible in the middle of whatever ails you, even tests for lung cancer.Do better. A ct scan alone costs 2,000.00 bucks out of pocket

angleintraining.bsky.social
@angleintraining.bsky.social

I called the ss office to get info about medicare, I was on the phone wait line for about an hour and gave up.I was going to ask if I lose all of the money toward my deductible with my marketplace health insurance when I have to switch over to medicare by law mid year in the middle of costly care.

yakrat.bsky.social
@yakrat.bsky.social

SSA is like the world’s largest banking/payment processing system with 100s of millions of captive customers continuously growing and infinite record retention requirements. Cutover has to be 99.9999% seamless and there has to be a tested blackout plan. Not possible for DOGE boys to pull this off.

Margiem
@margiem.bsky.social

Every day get loud, show up and every day call your reps and Mike Johnson (202) 225-2777 John Thune (202) 224-2321 Chuck Schumer (202) 224-6542 Hakeem Jefferies (202) 225-5936 Call for impeachment or treason charges. Use 5calls.org if you need help.

Tehom
@tehomcd.bsky.social

I think you're really underestimating the risks involved here. His entire team is made up of junior engineers. I would be shocked if any of them know COBOL. They're probably going to try to use AI to automate this and it will break. There's reasons why systems like this aren't touched for decades

nls5.bsky.social
@nls5.bsky.social

I don’t care if they want to to upgrade but isn’t there a requirement for competitive bidding detailed scope and a review of bids to see which is the best plan for the best price?? How can everything be sole sources to musk? No scope. No requirements. No supervision. It should be illegal.

Augie Arthnr
@jeffarthurssister.bsky.social

An upgrade was already in progress. They were in the middle of verifying all the information from the old system was transferred correctly to a new one when they fired the few ppl left who understand the old coding system. There is no possible way anyone can update it without them.

Teknowledge420
@teknowledge420.bsky.social

As a person who has known this code, working with this code and knowing the depths of the complexities involved with even a simple base rebuild... This is NOT good. I mean I'm sure they went through Change Control, have a Rollback Plan and tracked in JIRA right? Right?

brainthink
@brainthink.bsky.social

Having spent my entire career working in software development in tech and most of it in Silicon Valley in enterprise, I guarantee you this will be an absolute clusterfuck of epic and irreversible proportions. These “leet code” shitheads ALWAYS screw things up; they’re more ego than actual skill.

brainthink
@brainthink.bsky.social

You’d be amazed at how common Java is in enterprise. Thing is: the Valley has turned into a lot of coders that just love to use the latest and greatest framework and library, without appreciating they should instead be building something that works 99.999% of the time. But they often don’t do that.

letyourlifebe.bsky.social
@letyourlifebe.bsky.social

in your world, where you are clearly not a architect, do you not care about what your code is supposed to do, before choosing which language to use? The adage "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" seems to apply to your thoughts here.

letyourlifebe.bsky.social
@letyourlifebe.bsky.social

...javascript? We're talking about a large complex database. Java's *only* selling point is being portable, which is not at all a requirement for the SSA's database. Who mentioned javascript? If you want to replace the COBOL that is working well, replace it with C, or R...what planet are you on?

cram2025.bsky.social
@cram2025.bsky.social

It’s the “build quick, we’ll fix it later” mentality. Build without understanding the business rules, processes, procedures, controls, validations, etc. Just get something out the door fast. Declare victory. Move on. Injure someone? Too bad…we were fast, tho.

Tapani Otala
@otala.me

I could not possibly agree any more. "move fast and break things" may be fine if you're schlepping merch on an ecommerce site, or counting likes on a social media post. Not cool if people's retirement or healthcare is on the line.

brainthink
@brainthink.bsky.social

Actually, “move fast and break things” is a stupid fucking “mantra” worshipped by junior people and idiots that have never been responsible for enormous revenue streams that depend on five-9’s uptime. Google and Facebook have bred a generation of dipshits that think it’s okay to be sloppy. It’s NOT.

Jo Z
@zamperla.bsky.social

For real it's pretty hard to "break things" when you're working in a massive tech company. They gave huge investments in developer tools, security and reliability engineers plus a culture of strict code review. Gov sys is more like cobbled together with contractors. Timeline off by 3 years

B-rad
@b-rad-gluckman.bsky.social

Jeopardy judges will accept that correction. I trust AI to write powershell, that I then test with /whatif before ever using. DOGE boys just send it half assed; cuz it’s somebody else’s problem if grandma dies cuz she couldnt pay her gas bill in winter bcuz she didn’t get her SSA that she paid into

Borek Lupoměský
@lupomesky.cz

Trying to rebuild extremely legacy infrastructure like this in matter of months is insane. Projects like this usually run for years and are fraught with risks. That said, Cobol is very outdated programming language in the sense that it's almost never used for new projects.

SM
@somethingmanzo.bsky.social

Bingo. If/when JPMorgan, Untied Healthcare, SSA, or thousands of other huge orgs decide to move off COBOL, it will be monumentally expensive, risky, and time-consuming. And it will be serious-minded (likely IBM-trained) engineers embedded within these orgs, not a pack of arrogant kids.

LJSJ
@ljsj.bsky.social

The best teams I’ve worked on maintain the legacy product as you develop and test and test test the new parts with real test data. Release it to production and repeat. This whole “breaking” mentality is BS and we would have been fired.

mhhoward-al.bsky.social
@mhhoward-al.bsky.social

Ditto. 30+ years as a mainframe COBOL developer. If you could magically replace COBOL applications, especially applications the size of Social Security, Medicare, IRS, etc., they would have been replaced during y2k conversion. Just saying...

Ron Hitchens
@ronsoft.com

I’ve been a software engineer/architect for nearly 50 years, COBOL was the first language I learned. And I’m now a SS recipient. This will be a HUGE disaster. It ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Allocate money and develop a deliberate modernization plan, by those who know the system. Not Big Balls.

diannetwh.bsky.social
@diannetwh.bsky.social

So by the time the muskrat leaves doge in May he will have all the information on everyone that he wants. As this administration is doing to our citizens and legal residents- detain first and ask questions later. ALL of them!

Rick Alexander ⚖️ ☮️
@rickwhist.bsky.social

The systems were in need of upgrades, however, converting in a matter of months is a nonsensical deadline. We are probably talking 10’s of thousands of lines of COBOL code. The business logic for the myriad of use case scenarios would be equally complex to digest for the conversion.

cjfishva.bsky.social
@cjfishva.bsky.social

You cannot migrate a massive computer system in a matter of months. There needs to be a lot of testing so downstream systems/processes will still work. Computer geniuses should know this! But I guess that is the point, they don’t want anything to work properly.

Holiday-Related Name
@grappler.bsky.social

There’s no credible evidence that anything is “broken.” There hasn’t been a missed payment in 80 years. And there’s no credible evidence of significant fraud, either. I think they’re just offended that a legacy system works just fine, so they have to “fix” it—meaning fuck it up.

Deirdre
@maddniez.bsky.social

This is how they get rid of social security without Trump saying "now we are gutting social security". Now it's an "oopsie", because clearly their base is happy to forgive "mistakes", as seen with the whole Signal thing.

MsCynt
@stayingwoke.bsky.social

Why? Who is allowing this? What is the reliability of the new platform? How will this create a cost savings? When will this illegal department be stopped? This hacking group was set up by Project 2025 to dismantle our institutions.

Paul Coglitore
@paulcoglitore.bsky.social

The plan here, as it's always been, is to make it impossible for SSA to function. Then Elon gets to say "I told you so" and the only solution is to "privatize" the system, by turning over the funds to their wealthy friends to manage (steal).

Sandy in the Pacific NW
@sandyinthepacnw.bsky.social

Freezing your credit helps protect against identity theft. If your personal info is stolen, criminals can’t open accounts in your name. It's an easy, free step to add security to your financial life and prevent damage from fraudulent activity. Keep your data safe and your credit secure!

ugetit.bsky.social
@ugetit.bsky.social

There have been smart people who've tried this and failed. Many say they can move away from COBOL but I've never seen it successfully done at such a large scale. It's a big lift and there's a reason COBOL is still used today. It's like getting rid of C programming. What will break? 🤔

realmallard1@blueskysocial
@realmallard1.bsky.social

Holy ##$%^ they have no clue what a mess this would create or maybe that's the intention. As a former BA, we would get all the folders the system kicked out and had to figure out how to fix it so the entered data/payment would go through. Decades of tanglements and congressional rule changes. 😡🖕😱

jimobx.bsky.social
@jimobx.bsky.social

Besides totally fucking it up, Musk will have the source code for the new system so any future changes will have to be purchased from him. Additionally, Musk and "Big Balls" will have YOUR personal information.

deuce
@iamdeuce.bsky.social

Holy shit GET THESE PEOPLE THE FUCK OUT OF THERE what is the point of having courts or a legislature when they let the dumbest motherfuckers on planet earth terraform the entire federal government without resistance

jerryljr.bsky.social
@jerryljr.bsky.social

Cobal computer language is outdated . requiring massive amts of time and hands on work. Updating the language will make it easier to assimilate to newer hardware and how many schools teach cobal anymore. Should have been done a long time ago.

jerryljr.bsky.social
@jerryljr.bsky.social

Look, i’m 63 so it affects me too. That does not change the fact an upgrade to the software allows an upgrade in the hardware and a lower cost to the maintenance of all of it. In 1983 i was working on an HP 3000 computer involved in the training for the US Kitty Hawk carrier group so stfu moron.

Lone Sloane
@lonesloane.msnkbrown.net

Nothing you just said is incorrect ; but it also does not address the problem: "immense software migration from a base with 70+ years of use and modifications, and we're gonna do it in months"

CITIZENS AGAINST TYRANNY
@aspectratios.bsky.social

Fox News has turned disinformation into profit and our loved ones into strangers… And then they gave us Pete Hegseth. 🥴 It’s time we take a stand against the ideologues running our country. A movement is brewing across the country and 50501 is showing up here in New York City. Join us

swmckay.bsky.social
@swmckay.bsky.social

Anyone in the industry knows what the success rate of migrating legacy systems is. (Hint: it's not very high.) Trying to migrate a really old one without actually understanding it (and it takes time to understand) is basically a guaranteed failure.

Jenny Cohn
@jennycohn.bsky.social

bsky.app/profile/jenn...

Jenny Cohn@jennycohn.bsky.social

Curtis Yarvin, a close ally of Peter Thiel, recently declared that the system is “irreparable,” that “To capture an elite, you have to demolish its institutions,” & that “Every existing institution of science, outside the scientists & the labs themselves, must be fully cremated…” 1/

graymirror.substack.comBarbarians and mandarins"As soon as it stops accelerating, it stalls and explodes."
Brenda
@brendap.bsky.social

Why is it not possible for someone to file for TRO based on what is attempting to be done can’t be done in the timeline and will harm 65 million people? Are we just supposed to wait until it happens and is irreparable?

Notes From Plague Island 🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇸💙🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇦🇵🇸 🇲🇽
@plagueisland.com

The foundations of democracy feel increasingly precarious, not under siege from tanks in the streets, but from something perhaps more insidious: a 'slow strangulation' conducted from within. Across the democratic world, norms erode, Read, share and subscribe. www.plagueisland.com/p/the-dark-e...

plagueisland.comThe Dark Enlightenment Lens: Understanding the Slow Strangulation of DemocracyDecoding the Threat: Democracy Under Covert Assault
Roxy
@roxy33.bsky.social

What does the dude who is nominated to run Social Security have to say about this? I believe he said in his nomination many of his clients still use COBAL.

1rani.bsky.social
@1rani.bsky.social

nobody knows the cobalt language anymore like they use to, which makes it secure as you seen with racist elonia doge crew doesn't understand how it worked. it's just like how banks still use phone lines for money transfer.

Lark
@larkraf.bsky.social

they just want to F it all up .. it works fine , people get their checks .. BUT .. they want those monies to funnel into THEIR pockets . FRIGGIN SCUM !!!

Peter Frampton Geraci
@framptongeraci.bsky.social

I know almost nothing about the actual workings of computer systems, but I DO work in tech. And the one thing I can tell you is, not matter how small the dataset, no matter how seemingly straightforward the lift, no migration in the history of ever has gone off without significant delays and errors.

GW
@gdubba.bsky.social

My employer has spent YEARS getting legacy COBOL systems updated. (This is a big company with lots of money and smart developers.) It's not an easy project. AI is starting to help, but to rush this is insane.

LoveNow
@carenow.bsky.social

We’ll probably never be able to prove Trump’s intent to kill SSA, but rushing a massive IT modernization presents an existential risk to SSA’s viability as an ongoing concern. That Trump is authorizing going ahead with this despite the known risk is sufficient to prove Trump doesn’t care about SSA.

emoontxwriter
@emoontxwriter.bsky.social

NOTHING SHOULD TRANSFER until they've done a complete, thorough run *without any errors at all* for a full 180 day cycle (since SSA has run on that legacy language for DECADES with hardly any error!!!) I know that language....it's old but rock solid and flexible enough if you really understand

emoontxwriter
@emoontxwriter.bsky.social

I am betting that NO ONE there, including Elon, knows it at the depth you need to make it do the kind of things the system requires. Try to rush things and the system will be FUBAR to the max. And it will be their fault...and basically nobody in that bunch cares. They *want* system death.

emoontxwriter
@emoontxwriter.bsky.social

We seriously need to get those people LOCKED OUT of the system, get techs who know the system back in to see how much is munged already, archive it as it is, where DOGE can't get their sticky fingers on it, and then analyze whether it can be put back together or should be migrated..which will

emoontxwriter
@emoontxwriter.bsky.social

take several years, because of the testing required to be sure every part of it is producing spit-perfect outcomes, while the old system (if possible) continues to do its usual good work. But of course, for those who want it to fail...this is how to ensure it will fail catastrophically.

emoontxwriter
@emoontxwriter.bsky.social

OMG NO! I know which one they're talking about and i"ve worked with that one, and with newer languages, and the prospect of thinking you can do it in a few months *WITHOUT TIME TO TEST* since apparently they DON'T test...is appalling and utterly wrong.

AuburnMay
@auburnmay.bsky.social

I’m extremely concerned. I am legally entitled to collect my deceased ex husband’s amount instead of mine and I’m afraid his info will be deleted because he’s been dead 14 years.

anastas1a.bsky.social
@anastas1a.bsky.social

So they thought that terminating the program will be seen as unpopular even by their dumb voters so now they’re going to just create a technical failure? So that you can receive your ssa, you just need to provide your documents (while phone lines, postal service and website don’t work)

Navin Pokala 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱
@navinpokala.bsky.social

This is like converting a passenger-laden diesel-burning propeller aircraft to a jet-fuel-burning jet aircraft while the plane is flying. bsky.app/profile/wire...

WIRED@wired.com

BREAKING: DOGE is starting to put together a team to migrate the SSA's 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.

wired.comDOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Codebase In Months, Risking Benefits and System CollapseSocial 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.
weggles
@weggles.bsky.social

COBOL is just so fundamentally different from modern languages. It would take years and years and years to get away from it, if ever. I'm sure grok will understand everything perfectly tho

weggles
@weggles.bsky.social

Honestly I'd hazard closer to a decade depending on how well understood all the components of the system are. In my experience a lot of COBOL is "not sure what this does but it runs monthly, so don't touch it" Replacing COBOL systems feels extremely daunting

Stephanie Dharma
@stephanie-dharma.bsky.social

Outdated software that is super stable, virtually unhackable, and handles huge amounts of data, flawlessly? Unless you know what you are doing, have a lot of money and time to do the conversion ultra carefully, only a fool would think they could change a couple million lines of software.

JLSchmidtAuthor
@jlschmidtauthor.bsky.social

What will happen is that info will be lost or inaccessible. Payments will bw delayed or stopped and we'll be told not to worry, that it will be "fixed". Those relying on the funds who live hand to mouth will be left penniless while the oligarchs play with their new monopoly money.

jbp127.bsky.social
@jbp127.bsky.social

I assume EM's main goal is to own it - right? Really what's the purpose of privatization if that private owner could be someone like, say, Soros. Or any other liberal and/or deep state boogeyman

hawkhawkins1.bsky.social
@hawkhawkins1.bsky.social

This is the language the system used when my mother worked for the Federal government for the Dept of Energy and the Dept of Interior. She worked there for thirty years and retired in 1994. It is impossible. They are just going to delete the records. She did accounts for research projects. Stop him!

Grapeapes
@grapeapes.bsky.social

It's information with teeth. Most people just dig their heels in and cry Elon is evil. But if they watch the whole video Its Bret asking hard questions with experienced businessmen and scientists answering the questions who are mostly if not all democrats.

mhhoward-al.bsky.social
@mhhoward-al.bsky.social

You are correct. When an employer submits their W2 files at the end of the year, the file is sent to SSA so they can extract the data they require before SSA passes the information to IRS. At least that was the way it was done when I was still working.

lerris.bsky.social
@lerris.bsky.social

Because rushing a change like that, won't go bad. After all the code they say is crap, can't possibly be coded that way for a reason. You can just start over in the new language, ignore everything you don't understand, and it will be fine... /sarcasm.

John Mohr
@jmohrbsky.bsky.social

1/ In 1984 I was put in charge of the software development portion moving a large private healthcare firm from Honeywell equipment to in-house IBM. Most code was in Cobol. The code was about 1/10th as much as SSA has.

Mardi
@irreverentginger.bsky.social

Why can’t they just start using a new system for new enrollees? Why migrate everyone at once? Eventually the older system will fade out. I’ve worked with programmers migrating from one system to another. Doesn’t seem impossible. What am I missing besides the hubris of my way or the highway?

StL Progressive(Amy)
@stlprogressive.bsky.social

That’s true, but it takes time & resources. I think in this case it was lack of funding and staff. The system is archaic, with apparently thousands of sub-programs/apps that prop it up for various functions. It should take years to analyze and implement such a huge project.

Mardi
@irreverentginger.bsky.social

I certainly understand this a costly and time consuming process. Unfortunately, this administration doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process of their crash and burn mentality. And yes, it should take years not months.

StL Progressive(Amy)
@stlprogressive.bsky.social

I think they’re trying to crash it as an excuse to sunset the program, or at least the SSD program. Oh, oopsie! Can’t possibly fix it! They don’t care who they hurt. Trump knows he never has to face voters again. It’ll be almost impossible to get him back out except feet first.

Mardi
@irreverentginger.bsky.social

No I get the “move fast and break things” is what is taking place. My usual response to chaos and destruction is there is a better way. I can’t help myself trying to present common sense and logic. It’s a curse but sometimes it works.

Kathy
@copykat231.bsky.social

Business/government requirements are buried in the code I am sure. Legacy system IT will need to be involved to make sure requirements are not lost or changed. This exercise alone is time consuming but if already documented somewhere else may help. $$$ x time. I’m sure SS has looked into upgrading

FunkmasterP
@funkmasterp.bsky.social

SS has never failed to make a scheduled payment. The system apparently works pretty well The system may need 'upgrading' but I believe the result of the musk changes will likely not be an improvement, but more chaos and disorganization because his teenage hackers don't know WTF they're doing.

Free -⛓️‍💥🦅
@free-son.bsky.social

Converting from old COBOL to C/C++ is not a bad idea. But doing it in a hurry, with demotivated staff that knows legacy code well, is ABSOLUTELY a stupid idea. It will be a miracle if this re-engineering project goes well. Sincerely hope that no senior citizen dependent on SS is hurt.