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The IRS Individual Master File, running on IBM mainframes, may be the oldest software alive. Perhaps there's a need for an update. https://www.guinnessworldrec
by yostrovs 2y ago
The IRS Individual Master File, running on IBM mainframes, may be the oldest software alive. Perhaps there's a need for an update.
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/636196-oldest-software-system-in-continuous-use https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/636196-ol...
- xethos 2y agoYeah, I'm sure there are no weird edge cases in America's byzantine tax laws that have been spotted and squashed in the software Sounds like fun to find and fix them all again though!
- mullingitover 2y agoI agree! However, the brain trust Musk is running is absolutely not qualified to do it. They're getting tripped up on basic COBOL trivia[1]. [1] https://www.fastcompany.com/91278597/elon-musk-doge-cobol-language https://www.fastcompany.com/91278597/elon-musk-doge-cobol-la...
- hindsightbias 2y agoWhy update what isn’t broken?
- wmf 2y agoUS tax filing is broken compared to many European countries that automatically prepare the tax return.
- hindsightbias 2y agoThat’s by congressional design. Don’t blame the mainframe. DOGE just shut down the auto prepare because gov’t is bad and wasteful.
- wmf 2y agoThe IRS hired a guy to rewrite the Master File in Java a few years back and they ran out of money when he was almost finished.