3 ms·

There's no way the IRS still uses an S/370 system. Please give me a link so I can have a laugh.

ams6110 10y ago
New IBM z-series mainframes will still run most System 370 assembly language programs. So it's possible.
wpietri 10y ago
Both the individual and business master files are still written in IBM mainframe assembly language, and are circa 56 years old. See the table on page 4 of this PDF for a list of the oldest systems in operation: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016-05-25-Powner-Testimony-GAO.pdf https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016-... Number three on the the list is The DoD's Strategic Automated Command and Control System, which runs on "an IBM Series/1 Computer—a 1970s computing system—and uses 8-inch floppy disks". No biggie; it just "coordinates the operational functions of the United States’ nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and tanker support aircrafts."
- 100ideas 10y ago
  Distorts the attack surface these legacy systems present.
- raverbashing 10y ago
  Yeah, but it's better for the ICBM control systems to run on 8'floppies, it's much safer (also because of the added friction)
- chx 10y ago
  I am wrong then! 56 years? That's the sixties. Yes, https://www.cnet.com/news/irs-trudges-on-with-aging-computers/ https://www.cnet.com/news/irs-trudges-on-with-aging-computer... it's from 1962 according to this 2008 article and the S/370 was introduced in 1970. It's actually an IBM 7074. God above. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:J3hXqKqIHEsJ:blog.modernmechanix.com/big-brother-7074-is-watching-you/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:J3hXqKq... This is a PDF from 2016 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/scap-pia.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/scap-pia.pdf > Standard CFOL Access Protocol (SCAP) is written in COBOL/Customer Information Control System (CICS). SCAP downloads Corporate Files On-Line (CFOL) data from the IBM mainframe at the Enterprise Computing Center, Martinsburg. The CFOL data resides in a variety of formats (packed decimal, 7074, DB2, etc.) 7074 format. weeps
hindsightbias 10y ago
Code that works, and has for 40 years. You'll never write something that lasts that long.
- GFischer 10y ago
  I feel really old when I realize some of my code is almost halfway there, and the odds are it WILL reach 40 years :( You seriously underestimate inertia at financial institutions.
Shivetya 10y ago
never ever under estimate the government and military's ability to keep old systems operational well past what others consider reasonable. anecdotal, back in the late 80s I was in the USAF. Our secure communication center was running the first model Burroughs machine to not use tubes. It was that old. It could boot from cards, paper tape, or switches. The machine was older than many people who would be assigned to it. This was closely repeated in the main data center (personnel records, inventory, and such) which had a decade old system that migrated off physical cards by 89 but still took them as images off 5.25 floppy uploaded by PC)

New IBM z-series mainframes will still run most System 370 assembly language programs. So it's possible.

Both the individual and business master files are still written in IBM mainframe assembly language, and are circa 56 years old. See the table on page 4 of this PDF for a list of the oldest systems in operation: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016-05-25-Powner-Testimony-GAO.pdf https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016-... Number three on the the list is The DoD's Strategic Automated Command and Control System, which runs on "an IBM Series/1 Computer—a 1970s computing system—and uses 8-inch floppy disks". No biggie; it just "coordinates the operational functions of the United States’ nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers, and tanker support aircrafts."

100ideas 10y ago
Distorts the attack surface these legacy systems present.
raverbashing 10y ago
Yeah, but it's better for the ICBM control systems to run on 8'floppies, it's much safer (also because of the added friction)
chx 10y ago
I am wrong then! 56 years? That's the sixties. Yes, https://www.cnet.com/news/irs-trudges-on-with-aging-computers/ https://www.cnet.com/news/irs-trudges-on-with-aging-computer... it's from 1962 according to this 2008 article and the S/370 was introduced in 1970. It's actually an IBM 7074. God above. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:J3hXqKqIHEsJ:blog.modernmechanix.com/big-brother-7074-is-watching-you/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:J3hXqKq... This is a PDF from 2016 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/scap-pia.pdf https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/scap-pia.pdf > Standard CFOL Access Protocol (SCAP) is written in COBOL/Customer Information Control System (CICS). SCAP downloads Corporate Files On-Line (CFOL) data from the IBM mainframe at the Enterprise Computing Center, Martinsburg. The CFOL data resides in a variety of formats (packed decimal, 7074, DB2, etc.) 7074 format. weeps

hindsightbias 10y ago

Code that works, and has for 40 years. You'll never write something that lasts that long.

GFischer 10y ago
I feel really old when I realize some of my code is almost halfway there, and the odds are it WILL reach 40 years :( You seriously underestimate inertia at financial institutions.

Shivetya 10y ago

never ever under estimate the government and military's ability to keep old systems operational well past what others consider reasonable. anecdotal, back in the late 80s I was in the USAF. Our secure communication center was running the first model Burroughs machine to not use tubes. It was that old. It could boot from cards, paper tape, or switches. The machine was older than many people who would be assigned to it. This was closely repeated in the main data center (personnel records, inventory, and such) which had a decade old system that migrated off physical cards by 89 but still took them as images off 5.25 floppy uploaded by PC)