Intel CPUs across the world can almost painlessly be swapped for AMD CPUs right now and only a small fraction of users would have to change anything.
SQL is a very high level of abstraction, to the point where the argument is a bit absurd when compared to a very concrete example of COBOL. Yes, if we had to rewrite everything that utilized SQL then it would take an incalculable amount of effort.
I feel like you're kind of hitting the nail on the head with the Linux kernel bit though -- yes we could replace all uses of the Linux kernel with one of the many alternatives available, but it would take a long time. More likely we'd see a major transition to one of the other available kernels. This is exactly the situation COBOL is in.
All this though -- and I think we're just talking about a semantic difference on the use of "%1 powers the %2". Arguably C, SQL, and Javascript provide the value to users which encourages them to spend their money which encourages further development. So okay, I think I follow where you're coming from. COBOL doesn't power the economy, it's just the most common form of infrastructure for us to extract value from the economy. That sound a bit more correct?
SQL is a very high level of abstraction, to the point where the argument is a bit absurd when compared to a very concrete example of COBOL. Yes, if we had to rewrite everything that utilized SQL then it would take an incalculable amount of effort.
I feel like you're kind of hitting the nail on the head with the Linux kernel bit though -- yes we could replace all uses of the Linux kernel with one of the many alternatives available, but it would take a long time. More likely we'd see a major transition to one of the other available kernels. This is exactly the situation COBOL is in.
All this though -- and I think we're just talking about a semantic difference on the use of "%1 powers the %2". Arguably C, SQL, and Javascript provide the value to users which encourages them to spend their money which encourages further development. So okay, I think I follow where you're coming from. COBOL doesn't power the economy, it's just the most common form of infrastructure for us to extract value from the economy. That sound a bit more correct?