DOGE plans to rebuild the Social Security Administration COBAL code base in months. Doing so is a danger to benefits and could cause a system collapse. [More inside] (archive.ph)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by InevitableSwing@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

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Social 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.

65 million people in the US currently receive Social Security benefits. They're considering Java as a replacement.

The project is being organized by Elon Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talk to the media tell WIRED, and aims to migrate all SSA systems off COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.

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SSA’s core “logic” is also written largely in COBOL. This is the code that issues social security numbers, manages payments, and even calculates the total amount beneficiaries should receive for different services, a former senior SSA technologist who worked in the office of the chief information officer says. Even minor changes could result in cascading failures across programs.

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[-] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It could, but this only solves the problem of hardware availability and throughput. It does noting with regards to maintenance, system architecture, or adapting the implementation to new requirements imposed either by legislation, policy, or changing technology (or mission creep, in the case of the DoD). You're still stuck with a hundred or so million lines of code which nobody understands.