GnuCOBOL

Installed GnuCOBOL 2.2 (formerly OpenCOBOL) the long way with ./configure, make etc. Had to add a few libraries. The last time I played with this it was OpenCOBOL 1.1. My timing seems to be good because this latest version was just recently released on Sep 7,2017.

Why COBOL now? I’m a old IBM COBOL/mainframe guy and I was watching some old “The Computer Chronicles” from early 1980s and they were sponsored by Micro Focus and they showed COBOL scrolling on a screen. That sparked a renewed interest. Also there’s just something cool about running something on my PC that use to cost a fortune to run on a IBM mainframe. Finally you know what they say…”A computer without COBOL and Fortran is like a piece of chocolate cake without ketchup or mustard”.

Joke from “GnuCOBOLFAQ.pdf”