A requirement from a job posting here

Post #237,871 by jbrabeck 12/13/05 8:51:26 AM Reply	A requirement from a job posting here Ability to write software programs in languages such as C, C++, assembly, etc. in DOS and Windows NT development environments. Assembly. DOS? [link\|http://www.usps.com/employment/corporatejobs.htm#H11\|Job listings for USPS IT] A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
Post #237,872 by JayMehaffey 12/13/05 10:15:25 AM Reply	Government is well known for that The US government is well known for having horribly obsolete systems that have to be updated and maintained. Unless they mechanically fail, they are generally kept in service. I would be all over that job if they I where looking right now. I would guess they are going to have trouble finding a DOS assembler programmer today, and I cut my teeth on that sort of system years ago. Jay
Post #237,904 by jb4 12/13/05 1:57:14 PM Reply	Don't you mean decades ago Wrote my first DOS asm program in '85.... jb4 shrub●bish (Am., from shrub* + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf.* BULLSHIT
Post #237,935 by JayMehaffey 12/13/05 5:18:56 PM Reply	Still use years I'm young enough that anything that I did or happened to me happened years ago, even though some of them technically reach back a few decades. If I manage to live to 40 how I talk might change, but right now I still think of myself as young. Of course, a month ago I wouldn't have considered living to 40 to be an achivement, so we shall see. Jay
Post #237,933 by Ashton 12/13/05 5:12:16 PM Reply	I'm with them - If it ain't broke, ferGawdsake Don't _Up-'grade' the sucker! unless you really Need the new stuff. (My local PO was having a bit of a problem with some small box. I offered to take a peek... she handed me a diskette (at least it was a 3.5") that seemed to misbehave. Turned SpinRite loose on the sucker.. talk about Pearls before Swine - yep, it does floppies, too! Bad sector, but maybe in a weird way; dunno why no error of that sort thrown. SR 'scrubbed' the sucker, as sometimes works, though with a floppy it's Silly. It did. She happy. Me get Nice service.) I think that box is still there. Goooo USPS!
Post #237,936 by JayMehaffey 12/13/05 5:22:59 PM Reply	We have had this argument before I don't remember if you where involved, but this argument has been had before. Some people believe that you always upgrade as quickly as possible to take advantage of new hardware and software. Other people avoid upgrading until the hardware physically fails. I fall someplace inbetween, with a leaning towards the second. I don't think you should upgrade unless you have a reason. But I also think that at some point hardware and software becomes so outdated that it becomes hard to update, and you should move ahead enough to stay ahead of that problem. Jay
Post #237,985 by Ashton 12/14/05 3:27:03 AM Reply	I understand that summary - re professional enviro. (And since you display flexibility, it's the attitude I would also adopt - if I had to make such decisions re any large group.) I, of course, speak only for a User, aware of my own relatively limited needs of this techno.. employing only commercial s/ware (in proprietary binary, unless/until I actually switch over fully to Debianesque? -I'm sampling/Thanks Scott!- or maybe still even, OS-X ;-) As for USPS - perhaps they remember Other projects in Govt. agencies - postulated upon a New Grand Unified s/ware 'Solution' for the Whole Enchilada (?) I'd imagine that they do.. Remember, that is. :-)
Post #237,997 by jbrabeck 12/14/05 9:18:59 AM Reply	Not quite I think we(they) lead the way in attempting to fix what ain't broke. After $millions spent, either the requirements are changed to show completion or project is deemed "there's a better way" and abandoned. Current attempt ... move HR into SAP. A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
Post #238,078 by Ashton 12/14/05 9:01:11 PM Reply	Oh... sorry to hear :-/ I thought that, by now 'SAP' had become a rather too-revealing acronym - even years ago (though of course, I know nothing of the fantasyland inhabited by CIEIOs at golf.) Jeez.. maybe we Are doomed.

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