Well, SABRE has been moving off the mainframe since 2001. On Wed, Sep 13, 2023 at 3:27 PM Dean Kent <[email protected]> wrote: > > I didn't want to get into the firefight... however, the commentary here > encouraged me to do so. > > My own belief (whether founded or not) is that if you follow your > passion and become good at it, someone will recognize that and feel it > is valuable enough to pay for it. I also believe that specialists tend > to demand a higher rate than generalists. Assembler is a specialty, and > while there may not be a lot of demand, the ones who do require it will pay. > > I compare it to, for example, I have some classic vehicles with > carburetors. Not too many mechanics work on carburetors any more - but > those who do have a lot of work. Fine craftsmen may not be in huge > demand due to the 'production line' manufacturing of most furniture - > but those who do it make good money and have plenty of work. People > who specialize in repairing antique clocks, pottery, rugs, etc. may not > be able to get a job anywhere - but if they are good at it, they have > plenty of business. > > As long as the mainframe runs legacy code, there will be a need for > assembler programmers. That's my opinion, at least. > > On 9/13/2023 8:52 AM, Bob Bridges wrote: > > I've long observed that no matter what your employer hired you for, what > > you turn out to be good at is what they use you for. At one location I was > > the only one who bothered to figure out what was wrong with the big > > greenbar printer when it went haywire; before I left, therefore, I was the > > one folks came to when it misbehaved, and I was the one ordering supplies > > for it. At another place my boss remarked, during an annual review, that > > "we gotta get you on some of these team projects; we keep using you as the > > lone fire-fighter for odd problems, but team projects will look good an > > your resume". I nodded enthusiastically and agreed aloud, but the fact is > > I ~liked~ being the guy in the corner who did the odd jobs, figuring out > > the software that no one else had time for. > > > > I always recommend to young folks that they keep on doing what they're > > interested in doing. Obviously this doesn't mean neglecting assigned tasks > > that sound boring; if I don't do what my boss wants me to do then I'm > > useless to him. But eventually he'll discover that he wants me to do some > > of the things I'm especially good at too. > > > > --- > > Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313 > > > > /* The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a > > little way past them into the impossible. -[Arthur C] Clarke's 2nd law. */ > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of > > Arthur Fichtl > > Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 04:18 > > > > As a now retired freelance z/OS guy based in Munich/Germany I had to find > > a market niche at my employer. Therefore I specialized on debugging, > > analysis of dumps and the like. For those tasks HLASM was inevitable. > > > > My colleagues preferred more comfortable tasks and languages and therefore > > I for myself had a quite secure job. > > > > And I liked it. My 1st language was the Siemens 4004 Assembler with punch > > cards as the user interface. Quite funny. > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
-- Mike A Schwab, Springfield IL USA Where do Forest Rangers go to get away from it all? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
