Mainframe COBOL » anniversary

IBM shows off the old hardware in its basement

Mike — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:59:54 +0000

Historical hardware from IBM’s 100 year history is on show at its Hursley site

IBM IS CELEBRATING its 100th anniversary this year, and like any centenarian it has accumulated a cornucopia of bric-a-brac over the course of its life. At the company’s Hursley offices near Winchester, however, this means bits of old mainframes and suchlike, and when The INQUIRER’s sister web site V3.co.uk was there recently, it managed to snap a few choice bits of the historical kit on show.

This is a card punch from 1949, used for preparing punched cards, the data storage medium of its day.

COBOL’s 50th Anniversary Celebrated With New Site

Mike — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 06:00:37 +0000

One of the oldest programming languages, COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) turned 50 this past week. On December 6, 1960, COBOL was first used on two different makes of computers, proving that compatibility across systems could be achieved. To celebrate the anniversary, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History built out a new section of their website dedicated to documenting the language’s history; a related exhibit will open at the museum this spring. READ MORE

Linux…Ten Years On the Mainframe!

Mike — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:00:04 +0000

Mainframes are about 40 years old. And as you probably know, several years ago mainframes were written off as expensive, dated computers that were capable of running only large business applications. Mainframe go south, many said. Not anymore – thanks to Linux!

Linux on mainframes has evolved rapidly during the past 10 years – yes – 2010 is the 10th anniversary of Linux on the mainframe. READ MORE