IT career changes: here's why I just quit my job.

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ธ.ค. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 1.4K

  • @VeronicaExplains
    @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +223

    Hi folks! I am overwhelmed by your positive comments. I wish I could keep up on it all!
    I might do a "thank you" stream sometime soon. Seriously, you all mean the world to me and I'm so thankful for your support.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Also, those of you who think COBOL has been dead for decades- go ask your bank or government if they have COBOL jobs. :P

    • @laughingalien
      @laughingalien ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Congratulations, Veronica, for knowing what you want to do and for doing it! I look forward to seeing more of you on this excellent channel.
      My first job was coding in COBOL (in 1988). Since I'm close to retirement, I'm lucky that that I'm able to spend my remaining programming years looking after a legacy (trading) system. My organization's IT leaves me and my team alone provided that we meet security requirements. The stinky IT puppets don't get to waste my time with pointless meetings.

    • @l0gic23
      @l0gic23 ปีที่แล้ว

      Curious... Did you report my previous comment about podcasting as spam or was that an automatic google thing or just some person in these comments?
      If I offended you somehow, it would be good to understand so I don't repeat.
      Thanks

    • @mattmatt2417
      @mattmatt2417 ปีที่แล้ว

      Explaining tech/consulting is DEFINITELY going to be a good place to be, when it comes to job security, long term/as long as possible, with the rise of automation/AI/machines/robots, I honestly think, at some point, this is our future;
      An Automated-Post-Scarcity-Society;
      The Society im trying to define is one where AI/Robots/automation is involved,without any money involved,but ecological/certain materials/elements,would be hard to come by/limited, but everyones basic needs would be handled/met and MAYBE SLIGHTLY more than basic needs,if certain things are available and everyones basic needs are met for that month,certain other items might also be available,but everything would be done autonomously/automatically/without human intervention, mostly,other than,government,voting systems/congress,Mayors,governor's,presidents,regulating/regulation,consulting, ethical decision making/systems/optimizing the autonomous manufacturing and delivery systems/infrastructures,to make it better/also to mitigate/avoid/minimize harm,that comes from the over all system/unforseen/foreseen harm/analytics,to a degree/most AI systems are designed to be as efficient as possible/its not necessarily designed to look at certain things,an example of this would be,if someone killed off all of one animal,the animal that the extinct animal ate,could over populate, and in turn kill off another animal,because the animals food supply could become limited,due to over population,this is just one example of adverse effects that need to be found/prevented/mitigated; Also technological/ecological advancements would be valued/anything that betters the over all system,also all of these changes/improvements/advancements,creates new variables and COULD cause damage,so these type things also need to be analyzed, but most tasks/jobs would become completely autonomous.

    • @mattmatt2417
      @mattmatt2417 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@VeronicaExplainsGovernment/banks/businesses are DEFINITELY known for using old technology/old equipment/old software, even when their advised not to, for security reasons/practicality/because work loads are being slowed down, due to A LOT of factors, that shouldn't even have to be thought about nowadays/ since like 2010/2011/ like 11 or 12 years ago/using software/hardware from the 70s/80s just isn't practical, AT ALL, / newer/modern tech/software has become affordable nowadays, for basically anyone, but yes I know companies/businesses/banks/governments want to hang on to the past, I think if they could get away with it, they would use paper/filing cabinets/stamps/the pony express vs email/servers/networks/digital calendars and so on.

  • @brucegoodman6743
    @brucegoodman6743 ปีที่แล้ว +307

    I'd been in mainframe IT for 35 years. The last time my contract was cut, I decided I was done with the corporate world. I was tired of being a number in a system that a Sr VP could cut so he could earn his bonus. I now sell Viking/Medieval clothing at medieval and renaissance faires across the country. WAY harder job, lot less money, but so much more satisfying.

    • @Xennox2
      @Xennox2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Wtf haha:) I like medieval clothing :)

    • @MrFIRESEAL117
      @MrFIRESEAL117 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      I'm guessing you were financially secure due to your 35 years in IT in order to make that career switch. Lol

    • @masaufuku1735
      @masaufuku1735 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      I just recently dodged a bullet with a job that looked really good on paper and that I was told flat out that I the top pick for by far - but the company axed the position days before they sent me the offer letter because upper management wanted to make their Q3 books look slightly better by not filling the position - a position I could tell just from the interview they desperately needed filled. The guy interviewing me was the only person doing the work and was extremely overloaded. It would have been a lot of fun, but given that the longest of my last 4 jobs were 1 year (they wanted me back in the office after telling me I wouldn't need to be in the office when I was hired - I resisted and they made up an excuse to fire me), 2 years (project was finished and was handed off to a team of maintainers that I had trained), 8 months (they hired me with the expectation that they could sell their services to clients and then couldn't, so I spent 75% of my time helping other people with their jobs instead of doing mine and they eventually realized they didn't have work for me and let me go) and 4 month (extremely bad fit), I'm very happy that they axed the position before I was hired and not 6 months down the line.
      Now I'm working for a university IT department, which is extremely nice. I started my career working for a university and I'm so glad to be doing so again - this time I'm even covered by a union. I'm even getting paid better than I would have been at the job that fell through, and this is 100% linux/unix rather than 75%/25% Linux/Windows. It's only been a couple months and I'm mostly liking where I am - my only complaint is that they hired me at an awkward time and there's not a lot for me to do - due to vacations and such, the big projects I'll be working on are delayed and waiting on other teams - so I've had a handful of pretty small/trivial tasks. Oh, and the fucking macbook they gave me. I somehow managed to be a (mostly) Linux admin for a decade and avoid macs entirely until now and I can not stand that thing - my hatred for windows pales in comparison to my hatred for that device.

    • @leblanc22
      @leblanc22 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@masaufuku1735 you can run Linux on your Mac.

    • @VitorMadeira
      @VitorMadeira 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Quitting IT to sell ancient looking clothes is something...
      Quite a testimonial. Thank you for that.
      Greetings from Portugal.

  • @pavloskairis9994
    @pavloskairis9994 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    I wrote COBOL 50 years ago and still do -- very lucrative.

    • @Dhannibal01
      @Dhannibal01 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I learned COBOL and RPG II way back in 78 in JR College, hated RPG II, LOVED COBOL, only offered a job in a small town in west Texas, turned it down after I thought about it for a week, never got the opportunity to work in COBOL, regrettably.

    • @rickardroach9075
      @rickardroach9075 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ⁠@@Dhannibal01 I learned COBOL and RPG II at college in ‘88/‘89. I subsequently was an RPG III analyst/programmer for almost 20 years.

    • @brianrogge1658
      @brianrogge1658 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I'm learning it right now actually.

  • @foxmccloud8960
    @foxmccloud8960 ปีที่แล้ว +407

    COBOL isn't just a programming language, it's a lifestyle you never truly leave 😎 lol. But honestly I wish you luck in all your endeavors :)

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +63

      Thank you!! I'll never truly leave COBOL, even if I'm not working on it every day. It's like vim- it's just part of my brain now.

    • @l0gic23
      @l0gic23 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@VeronicaExplainstalking is a great way to get things off/out your brain...
      I suggested Podcasting via the 2.0 spec as a additional way to so just that... Like blogging its a longer form then video and can provide a different outlet for Cobol or whatever else...
      Someone apparently felt my comment was spam... 1st and only spam report in the history of my account 😢

    • @Chemnitz11
      @Chemnitz11 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      I didn't choose the z/OS life, the z/OS life chose me.

    • @ITAlpaka
      @ITAlpaka ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@VeronicaExplains brr vim🙀

    • @zizlog_sound
      @zizlog_sound ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Veronica has time now to explain COBOL. 😅

  • @MsPaulathomas
    @MsPaulathomas ปีที่แล้ว +100

    I think the best description of COBOL was from one of my University Professors: COBOL was designed with the objective that non-technical mangers could read the programs, the result was a language that nobody could read and still be sane!

    • @vanlepthien6768
      @vanlepthien6768 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      No, COBOL was there because you could hire people off the street, train them, have an analyst give them decent specifications, and they would generate acceptable code. The advantage of COBOL is that it is a restricted tool - it is pretty hard (nigh impossible) for a newbie to screw up in the ways that many a rookie C programmer does.
      Static calls, no pointers and no dynamic allocation of memory in vanilla COBOL was great for financial calculations. (Most of the time. I did have to use dynamic allocation for telecom account processing for accounts that could have hundreds of thousands of calls in a day. That was the only need for it in over 20 years of COBOL programming.)

    • @bobd5119
      @bobd5119 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      "one of my University Professors"
      How many COBOL programs did that professor write?

    • @MsPaulathomas
      @MsPaulathomas 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@bobd5119 he had worked in the banking industry as a programmer, so quite a few

    • @the_expidition427
      @the_expidition427 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@bobd5119 Probably many unlike the web developer HTML professors today

  • @IrenicusPalace
    @IrenicusPalace ปีที่แล้ว +113

    Hello Verónica,
    I'm from a small country called Uruguay in South America.
    I discovered your channel a while ago, and I loved the way you communicate and explain topics.
    I'm not a programmer or anything like that; I work in the field of cybersecurity. Nevertheless, all the topics you've covered on your channel have interested me.
    I really like the vintage-tech style you bring to the videos.
    I'm very glad that you've been able to take the step of doing what you love, because, after all, in the little time we have on this Earth, that's what we should do.
    I promise to watch all the videos you upload to support making this your lifelong job.
    Sending you a hug and congratulations.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Thank you for your support!

    • @kaue5028
      @kaue5028 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Hi. I'm your neighbor (literally).
      I live in Rio Grande do Sul near Chui, the southernmost border of Brazil. Many people call those who live near this region "Brasiguaio", because Spanish is already mixed with Portuguese, and the Uruguayan Gaucho and Brazilian Gaucho culture unites the two regions of the countries into one. Now that I've made my presentation, a curiosity. I have seen a movement some time ago of many Brazilian programmers going to Uruguay. Despite Brazil having a much richer market in technology, Uruguay has made a great incentive to take programmers from here to the other side of the border. It's been working, I have two friends from São Paulo who are in Montevideo.

  • @yooperpete
    @yooperpete ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Congratulations! I know you'll continue to be a smashing success. 🙏

  • @DanelonNicolas
    @DanelonNicolas ปีที่แล้ว +2

    the fuser video was the first one I saw. hope to see more content like that one! Congratulations on your decision 🎉 Wishing you all the best ❤

  • @rid9
    @rid9 ปีที่แล้ว +301

    How about teaching us COBOL too?
    There's not a lot of high quality content about it out there, and there's definitely interest.
    I'd also be interested in Ada, and nobody's doing that either.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +136

      Soon I'll be able to do so!
      One of the challenges for me has always been ownership of code written. The end of the road for my active COBOL development time will facilitate more discussion! :)

    • @techhoppy
      @techhoppy ปีที่แล้ว

      @@VeronicaExplains as someone who had years of COBOL programming on non-IBM (mini/mainframe) systems, I've always wondered what your platform was and hearing that it was X86 (OpenCOBOL/GNUCobol or Micro Focus I would imagine) makes my heart leap! It's tough to find a gig out there for COBOL that's on an IBM platform hence the requirements of JCLandDB2 for most current openings. My NCR/Unisys COBOL background is good enough for standard COBOL (ANSI) and can get the job done but if one doesn't have IBM experience you're usually not considered. Excited for you and for the new content especially your COBOL history. Good luck!!

    • @markgreen2170
      @markgreen2170 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      why cobol?

    • @JstJaybeingJay
      @JstJaybeingJay ปีที่แล้ว

      Amen.

    • @WereCatf
      @WereCatf ปีที่แล้ว

      @@markgreen2170 For fun? For profit? Some of us just simply like to constantly learn to stuff; we get our kicks out of learning. Some want to learn COBOL because one can make a life-long career out of it. For some, it's both.

  • @Adalbert777
    @Adalbert777 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Good luck! If you find the time, I would love to learn more about you experiences and suggestions with legacy software. I do not have to deal with Cobol, but all successful software will some day become legacy. Better be prepared.

  • @Hellgreen
    @Hellgreen ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Keep up these awesome videos!

  • @jpmyers6950
    @jpmyers6950 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Brave move Veronica. I wish you the best. You're a natural on camera and your sense of humor is fantastic. Love the blooper reel at the end.

  • @guilherme1556
    @guilherme1556 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Hey Veronica, thanks for continuing this awesome work you are doing here on TH-cam. It's great to see you pursue your passion and starting a new career isn't easy, but the community stands with you and we hope good things will come out for the channel.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thank you so much for the kind words and the support!

  • @ConstantinCabiniuc
    @ConstantinCabiniuc ปีที่แล้ว

    Happy to discover your channel and looking forward to go through existing and future videos! Content looks awesome :)

  • @Montegasppa
    @Montegasppa ปีที่แล้ว +78

    Very cool! Changes are scary, I know! I can feel it in your speech (even you’re never saying it clearly)… and I’m very glad you’ve taken that step tho. I hope - even believe - you’re gonna be very happy with your decision. Since I’ve been following your Web content production, I can say that’s “YOU.”
    Good luck, and go for it!! 🤗
    Reach and help everyone you can.

  • @ardiemagno
    @ardiemagno 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thanks!😀

  • @yooperpete
    @yooperpete ปีที่แล้ว +24

    I'm very happy for you, Veronica. I wish you all the best in your new endeavors, and I look forward to seeing more frequent videos from you in the future. 🎉

  • @MrVasile
    @MrVasile ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Behind you all the way! I spent 9 years in IT working from home. Got laid off just before COVID, then made the HUGE leap to become a Middle School Engineering teacher! Best decision ever!
    Good luck with your awesome journey!

    • @NeigeFraiche
      @NeigeFraiche ปีที่แล้ว

      What's covered in middle school engineering?

  • @danielsanichiban
    @danielsanichiban ปีที่แล้ว +13

    As an engineer slash artist that has quit jobs and not quit jobs. I applaud you. It’s always so good to see other people not waste their time and potential

  • @fan4life28
    @fan4life28 ปีที่แล้ว

    Congrats, and best of luck!

  • @mariochagan9711
    @mariochagan9711 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    I hope your channel grows, Veronica. 100K soon enough.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thank you! It's been a blast so far and I'm excited for what's next!

    • @ricardokullock2535
      @ricardokullock2535 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sorry that I had to ruin the 42 likes, but I wanted to like the comment 😅

  • @TerryMlatros
    @TerryMlatros 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thanks!

  • @Kehvarl
    @Kehvarl ปีที่แล้ว +5

    More Veronica videos sounds amazing! Your upbeat approach and positive messaging are highlights to my week when you release something new.
    Best of luck on the new direction!

  • @TheBreamer999
    @TheBreamer999 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Cobol was my first language in College (1981 to 1985). On an IBM 4341. Then my first job at Atomic Energy of Canada, was CICS Cobol, along with JCL. Being largely an engineering company, I dabbled in PL/1 as well. I turned 60 this September and after forty years of code, I retired. The last part of my career was mostly Oracle PL/SQL. But dropping a deck of cards was painful :)

    • @imhassane
      @imhassane ปีที่แล้ว

      Do you know why ROWNUM in oracle slows queries a lot ?

  • @Kyle-re4mf
    @Kyle-re4mf ปีที่แล้ว +25

    It's quite a leap to leave the stability and familiarity of a career and pursue your passion, that's very admirable and awesome! I hope I can do the same someday

  • @retrorter89
    @retrorter89 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Well done !!! I haven't programmed in COBOL since about 1993 !! Amazing how much of that legacy stuff is still about. But follow your heart and you will never go far wrong. I quit most of my 9-5 IT admin to focus on the more important things in life (and my retro Commodores :D) ...life is really short and I wasted so many of my best years in a haze of 100+ Hour weeks.....
    Great you have belief in yourself, you will do well, and I look forward to more brilliant videos :) Thank you

  • @henriquefreitas1916
    @henriquefreitas1916 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    GO FOR IT!!!! Srsly, I believe from time to time I hit the same questioning about my relationship with ppl (comparing with fellows in the same area) and I'm happy that you found a middle ground between tech and human dynamics. I enjoy your videos a lot and, from time to time I get back to 'em if I need more info. I wish you all the best and regards from Brazil =)

  • @dastafford
    @dastafford ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You are one of my favorite channels and I am happy to see you move to new endeavors. I look forward to your content :-)

  • @DanielMReck
    @DanielMReck ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Congrats on the big move, Veronica. Your musicianship has always been evident, as are your talents as an educator and creator. Here's wishing great things for you!

  • @thescurry
    @thescurry ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Happy to be a new subscriber, these videos bring me joy and remind me of my past. I appreciate how articulate you are, thanks for bringing us along for the ride. 😎

  • @mlong5666
    @mlong5666 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Congratulations on making the difficult decison to cast off the "golden hand-cuffs" and focus on a fulltime teaching career here and other venues. I'm a long time consumer of your content and a brand new Patreon supporter. You are a talented and passionate teacher and you have my best wishes for success.
    Personal note: I wrote COBOL programs on HP3000 systems for 11 years until 1991. I moved on to other programming languages and never missed leaving COBOL behind,

  • @shaunypie99
    @shaunypie99 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Congratulations Veronica you are a recovering Sys Admin (with COBOL!). Stay strong, you have my support don't give in and be tempted to go back 💖

  • @TheSuperiorQuickscoper
    @TheSuperiorQuickscoper ปีที่แล้ว +54

    My understanding (as a Canadian) is if you don't have a "traditional" job in America, health insurance is extremely expensive (e.g. COBRA). Given how small this channel is (for now), how much of a hit will health insurance be to your finances?

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +108

      I don't want to get too into the weeds publicly here, other than to say that our health insurance in the United States is pretty awful, and I'm lucky to have coverage through another member of the household at present.

    • @vincei4252
      @vincei4252 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@VeronicaExplains Awful is an understatement. I had to go to the emergency room a week after I was laid off from my job and the bill came in just under $20k, yep, count it $20,000. Healthcare is definitely a concern for my next steps too.

    • @fivevs1
      @fivevs1 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      wow, I’ve never seen x86 cobol. Only on big iron, mainframe.

    • @Wythaneye
      @Wythaneye ปีที่แล้ว +1

      COBRA is the most expensive way to buy insurance. Individuals have the ability to buy direct from the insurers, which does cut the cost pretty dramatically. I'm a contract-for-hire worker, paying my own insurance every month, and it's doable.

    • @NullHand
      @NullHand ปีที่แล้ว

      @@fivevs1 I suspect most COBOL code today is running in an emulated "Big Iron" environment.
      I saw this happen 20 years ago, pushed by a "Big Iron" purveyor themselves (Unisys).

  • @MeisterJager90
    @MeisterJager90 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    As a new viewer who loves your “Miss Frizzle meets Bill Nye Approach” and your intro music, I’m excited to see you more out in front doing the explains 🖖🏼🤙🏼

  • @Ybalrid
    @Ybalrid ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I wonder (have been for a little while) what's the story behind the COBOL gigs. How did somebody get into that in modern times?

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Oh, once the dust has settled and the servers are offline and the work is in the rear view, I'm sure I'll talk about it.

    • @Chemnitz11
      @Chemnitz11 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Last year, we had interns who learned it from two senior developers, and most of them stayed with it.

    • @dwight4k
      @dwight4k 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@VeronicaExplains Please do.

  • @RachidElBoukiouty
    @RachidElBoukiouty ปีที่แล้ว

    I am sure this change will bring you back all alive and refreshed, have a good break, rest well and listen to your inner voice. I will be waiting for your videos

  • @aarcaneorg
    @aarcaneorg ปีที่แล้ว +14

    I hope you'll find time to do a "beginner to intermediate in Cobol" series, which takes us from hello world through to a simple but complete accounting application or the like, then when it does well, start a second series of two-to-three part Cobol advanced explainer videos, on those complex subjects that come up once you're past the intermediate

    • @deepsleep7822
      @deepsleep7822 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@GladeSwope : COBOL isn’t hard to read. It was designed to have sentence like structure. Maybe the original programmer wasn’t a very COBOL programmer. That’s not COBOLs fault. BTW, I can code in multiple computer languages, including COBOL, but prefer Assembly Language as well.

    • @PutineluAlin
      @PutineluAlin ปีที่แล้ว

      Uhm that does not sound like a very productive use of her time really I think there are a lot of videos like that on youtube that are competing, also does her channel even focus on instruction videos cause on my first glance it's mostly odd-ware or very specific short tutorials.

  • @WhatHoSnorkers
    @WhatHoSnorkers 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    COBOL is love, COBOL is life... but it's important to find joy in what you do, and good luck with the change (I came over here from Taylor and Amy Show!).

  • @geekwithsocialskills
    @geekwithsocialskills ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Awesome and congrats! Making this change can be scary for sure. You have a ton of support in retro computer and tech community. I'm super excited to see what comes next, especially with your channel and content. Now go get on with your bad self 🙂

  • @henryh9289
    @henryh9289 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Congrats! Looking forward to seeing what you do in your next adventure. You got this!

  • @shabnakadyr1564
    @shabnakadyr1564 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    I'm kind of the opposite, I enjoy staying "behind the scenes", just knowing that my work makes something else function or function better than before. I always was a little jealous of people who can do this stuff, talking to people and exposing themselves. Best wishes to you and your channel, I hope you can make it work.

  • @mikeburke7028
    @mikeburke7028 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks

  • @ShawnBrezny
    @ShawnBrezny ปีที่แล้ว +11

    "No body puts Baby in the corner"

  • @osisho3323
    @osisho3323 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Congrats to you. It’s always best to love what you do and who you work with. I wish you the best of luck on your journey!
    I’d love to see you talk about mixing music creation and tools to facilitate it on Linux. I’m a Linux user as well as learning piano (on a digital piano) and don’t know anything about the tools Linux has to work with.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Thank you! I plan to do a bit more about music making on Linux, as it's not the focus of many of the music channels and it's definitely a *whole thing*. As someone who's been making music on Linux since around 2006 or so, there's a lot to talk about!

    • @user-vr2rq5hl6l
      @user-vr2rq5hl6l ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I find it strange that applications in C are sometimes considered legacy and some managers want them to be modernized by rewriting them in Java.

  • @The_Coffee_Loving_Engineer_HND
    @The_Coffee_Loving_Engineer_HND 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    I really hope you do more videos on Debian. I'm getting ready for my first forays into Linux outside of logging into a Linux server at school. Your videos on RHEL and Debian's 30th are what finally tipped the balance between Debian and Ubuntu or Fedora.

  • @RafhaelCedeno
    @RafhaelCedeno ปีที่แล้ว +7

    would love to hear a little more about working in cobol, do you all commit stuff to git, are there unit tests and code reviews? theres testing environments too im guessing? how often is code pushed?

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Ooooo, I'd love to cover all of that at some point.
      I've seen a lot of COBOL using bespoke versioning such as renaming an old file from FILE.CBL to FILE.CBL.BAK_YYMMDD, that sort of thing. That's mostly for less maintained codebases, though- I often script out a conversion to git for those and then use git going forward.
      Proper unit tests aren't baked into any of the projects I work on but I fake it out with compiler tests- as I compile a program I script out some additional tests to make sure the data does what I expect it to (essentially "test-driven development"). My guess is that some compilers or runtimes might even allow some sort of unit testing, but licensing has always been trouble at my small scale. Larger teams probably have a much easier time building proper tests.

  • @Gruesome420
    @Gruesome420 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    You absolutely deserve to feel stoked for this new chapter in life. And I'm stoked too, to see what you want to show us next :)

  • @warthunder1969
    @warthunder1969 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Scary Changes but I hope they lead to good things.
    Also I could so totally see you putting out COBAL or other videos even if it was a training series behind patreon or kofi or something? I'm not much into programming but I do want to learn a little to do things at home.

    • @warthunder1969
      @warthunder1969 ปีที่แล้ว

      I picked up 2 shirts from your merch store to help out :). Hopeful it helps you out a bit during your break.

  • @Robert-ln9no
    @Robert-ln9no ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I took my first programming class (COBOL) 43 years ago. COBOL was also my first development job. I think your making the right move. COBOL has had lasting power that other languages could only dream about. I don't know what the COBOL scene is like today but all of our applications were just batch processing and printouts. When I first started working we didn't even have monitors. We can do a lot more today but things are also more difficult today. The COBOL programmers back then had it pretty good. I wish you the best on your journey. I've just subscribed to your channel and look forward to see your clips.

  • @davesnyder7094
    @davesnyder7094 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Good for you!! It's so nice to see a fellow tech geek take control of their destiny and make their future their own. You are an inspiration. Be ready for the lows, they will make you doubt this decision, but you will prevail, 100%.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Thank you so much! As far as the sound on the outro, pretty sure it's my Subdecay Liquid Sunshine (overdrive pedal) going into my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. If I remember correctly, I also used a JHS 3-series distortion DI'd right into my interface for the solo part (not sponsored by any of the aforementioned brands, just like their stuff).

    • @Getoverhere666
      @Getoverhere666 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@VeronicaExplains Hello! Can I listen to the whole track?

  • @evelinamarinova4099
    @evelinamarinova4099 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey Veronica , congratulations on following your heart!! Your way of explaining things it is one of the kind! The world needs more people like you

  • @krzysztofk.8842
    @krzysztofk.8842 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I thought cobol devs have pop star wages :)

    • @foxmccloud8960
      @foxmccloud8960 ปีที่แล้ว

      That's what I heard too

    • @samurphy
      @samurphy ปีที่แล้ว +1

      If you want to get into it, it's pretty straight forward. It's a much smaller learning curve than a lot of other languages because, while archaic, it was intended for a particular use case and isn't the swiss army knife that things like C, C++, Perl and Python became.

    • @tibbydudeza
      @tibbydudeza ปีที่แล้ว +3

      For Y2K you got to determine your own salary.

    • @Lucretia9000
      @Lucretia9000 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      If you can read english, you can write cobol.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Oh, the money is great. Someone asked me what I'll miss about COBOL day-to-day, and I definitely said "getting paid to do COBOL."
      Stable contracts, good pay, reasonably predictable work. It has a ton of advantages.

  • @jacevedo770
    @jacevedo770 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    i hope your channel grows! looking forward to seeing what you do next

  • @bobd5119
    @bobd5119 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Veronica, I think you quit your gig, rather than COBOL.

  • @Junktown-James
    @Junktown-James 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Just came across your channel and watched several videos at work and I love it! For me, the combination of modern Linux discussion and retro tech is a perfect niche for me and your punk rock theme you put into the videos is an added bonus! I hope your transition into full time goes well, I'm looking forward to seeing more!

  • @sebastianhildebrandt
    @sebastianhildebrandt ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you for sharing all your thoughts!! That is a huge step and this is fantastic. Looking forward to see more of your very valuable videos! Take your time!

  • @matt_kelly
    @matt_kelly 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I've been getting recommendations for your videos for the past little while and decided to finally watch one, the one about iPods. That one led me to another, and eventually to this one. You must be doing something right since it looks like your reach is growing, I just subbed.

  • @jscollett
    @jscollett ปีที่แล้ว

    I am happy for you. You are a natural teacher and that shows in your videos, especially the lesson ones. I have a feeling you will do amazing well in this next chapter of your life.

  • @rfuesting
    @rfuesting ปีที่แล้ว

    Bravo! You will be great! I wrote COBOL/JCL for the mainframes at an A&D company back in the day so I know of which you speak. Keep up the good work!

  • @peteygbklyn
    @peteygbklyn ปีที่แล้ว

    You’re awesome: bold step you’re taking and your commitment and passion to work and teach people tech here will be your sail. Good luck!!

  • @BoogieDownBXX
    @BoogieDownBXX 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Ay kid you're going to be alright! ;) Change is good. You're so relatable to so many, your style is infections, and much needed today. Keep it up!

  • @VincentTubed
    @VincentTubed ปีที่แล้ว

    Follow your dreams al! It's great to watch. Hope the lack of your technical work in the industry will be filled with people you taught. Cheers!

  • @zinsy23
    @zinsy23 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wow, this is a pretty big leap without a lot of certainty! I'm hoping for the best with new life breathed into your journey! Best of luck with it!

  • @8BitInsekt
    @8BitInsekt ปีที่แล้ว

    When watching your video, I had the feeling as if we were having a pleasant chat in some bar. Awesome! I send you my best wishes for your future endeavors!

  • @edgarrod71
    @edgarrod71 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you, you gave me the perspective to be hiding behind the scenes... I'll start soon a channel too. You gave me the inspiration...

  • @AdirondackVirtual
    @AdirondackVirtual ปีที่แล้ว

    I love this for you Veronica! I know you are just going to thrive in your new pursuits. I'm sure your other subscribers will agree when I say we are here cheering for you and will be here to support you.

  • @RJNoe
    @RJNoe ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is the first of your videos to pop up in my feed, and you can count me as a new subscriber; I hope it helps in some small way. My software career began with COBOL and FORTRAN back when they were current languages. I’m semi-retired now, and am familiar with the feeling that the position you’re in just isn’t right for you. I admire your courage, confidence and self-awareness and hope you find a path that suits you!

  • @maga9852
    @maga9852 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great news, Veronica! I am very happy for you. Change is always scary, but I think you are doing what you want to do.
    So you are doing the right thing.
    Good luck to you 💪😎

  • @user-dj2yf6xl5k
    @user-dj2yf6xl5k ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love your videos Veronica, wish all the best for you

  • @choppedcheesegaming
    @choppedcheesegaming ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You're a great teacher and I'm confident you're gonna teach us tons of more stuff! Congrats on this new stage of life

  • @middle_pickup
    @middle_pickup ปีที่แล้ว

    I'm looking at starting a new career myself, and I've wanted to learn how to code for a long time. I've never thought about legacy systems before. Your "I'm quitting" video might have just sparked a new start for me ngl. A new career with job stability sounds amazing.

  • @MartinLaskowski
    @MartinLaskowski ปีที่แล้ว +1

    WOOOT!!! ❤❤❤ AWESOME! You being you without the distraction will ROCK. (I thought the channel was your full-time gig because your videos are so good) A star shines on the hour of this decision! 😊

  • @FrenziedManbeast
    @FrenziedManbeast ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If people truly understood how much old code is still running from 40+ years ago they'd run screaming into the night. My first job out of college in 2010 had me working at least part-time in Borland C++ with DOS, modding PASCAL libs and expanding ancient CLI-based database subscriptions that are in all likelihood still running today. None of my peers could do the work, and at the time only one part time contractor was working on those systems. The only reason I could do the work is from a young age my oldest brother had started me on Commodore64, then MS-DOS, and finally onto a Windows environment. I was born in '85, but I had the experience with systems older than I was from a very young age - never would I have guessed the advantage it would have provided for me. Great video, thank you. Best of luck with this big change.

  • @PenguinMindTricks
    @PenguinMindTricks ปีที่แล้ว

    I don't know why. First video I see from you. But you put a smile on my face and I can't wait to see more of it :3

  • @slightlyprofessional
    @slightlyprofessional 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Congratulations! I JUST discovered your channel today and I’m already several videos in. Looking forward to checking out the back catalog.

  • @steveoshaughnessy3736
    @steveoshaughnessy3736 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I'm a "behind the scenes" data engineer. But I can totally understand your goals, your true self. Thanks for having the courage to make such a big change.

  • @inrit
    @inrit 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Just discovered your channel, it's so wonderful! Came for the electronics, stayed for the career insights! So delightful, new sub here.

  • @DavidDavisL
    @DavidDavisL ปีที่แล้ว

    More videos is great news for your subscribers - and if you get to enjoy what you are doing, that's even better. Looking forward to the changes and wishing you all the best with this move. I think this will work out well for you (and the viewers)!

  • @ObsidianMercian
    @ObsidianMercian ปีที่แล้ว

    Best of luck with your change of direction! You are a wonderful orator and really bring the topics you speak about to life. I'm very much looking forward to the increased frequency of videos here on TH-cam.

  • @brotkastn107
    @brotkastn107 ปีที่แล้ว

    Huh, this is about the first time that yt has recommended a new channel that i am really interested in. Good luck with your decision, i will be around to watch.

  • @joenichols590
    @joenichols590 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey Veronica,
    Just wanted to wish you the best of luck on your new endeavors. I hope it all works out for you as i do enjoy all of your content. Thanks for doing what you do. If you can maybe if you can find those corporate videos you did and post them here that would be cool to see.
    Thanks
    Joe

  • @tom95076
    @tom95076 ปีที่แล้ว

    Good for you... love the idea of taking back your day to day... sometimes I feel all the learning that many have done is just not reciprocated back to others new and old.. no matter what the profession is.. new sub right here! thanks for the opening offer.

  • @bunix12
    @bunix12 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is great news, and I’m glad you are making changes for your betterment. I would love seeing anything you post honestly. Learning from you and your experience would be amazing.

  • @augustocamani
    @augustocamani ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Stay strong Linux Mom 💪! I love your work, your charisma and passion for software and hardware. I've learnt a lot from you and I really appreciate it. You're one of my favorite you-tubers from all web. I hope you could accomplish your goals. Greetings from Argentina.

  • @drumyogi9281
    @drumyogi9281 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This randomly popped into my feed. I work in IT and a long time ago I heard about COBOL being a language used for old banking software and that a lot of the programmers are retiring. It sounds like a good way to make money. I hope that your new career brings you happiness! I like IT because I get to talk to people. I used to work Pest Control and I lived in Greenville, California which was a very small town in a very low populated national forest. I did it for 5 years and I became incredibly lonely since I worked alone and I was always on the road. I can relate!

    • @bb5242
      @bb5242 ปีที่แล้ว

      it's also all over healthcare and health insurance and it's AWFUL

  • @BradleyBrown
    @BradleyBrown ปีที่แล้ว

    Congratulations on finding calling! Good luck, we'll be rooting for you!

  • @sandwich2473
    @sandwich2473 ปีที่แล้ว

    Oh dang that's super scary but it's also super exciting I really really hope that this is a major positive new start for you!

  • @LouHoop
    @LouHoop ปีที่แล้ว

    I wish you the best of luck in your new endeavors. I just happened across your channel and decided to subscribe as I am just Benny coding journey with Course Careers. Im adding more channels like yours to help in my new endeavor in tech. Thanks and I look forward to future videos!

  • @MikeWood
    @MikeWood ปีที่แล้ว

    100k play button is just around the corner. :) Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Exciting times!

  • @diggee172
    @diggee172 ปีที่แล้ว

    Hi. Just subscribed to you. . I started out with Fortran and COBOL in the mid 70’s. I’m retired now after going through a Unix/c language phase. I ended up in QA after the power that be sent so many of the coding jobs offshore. I’m praying for you, girl

  • @peterbates4696
    @peterbates4696 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My first ever IT gig was writing COBOL for a telecom billing system. System was an IBM3790 controlled by JCL.. DB2. DB. It had a robotic silo that would load the tapes. I loved that job..

  • @Tedwarddddd
    @Tedwarddddd ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I'm so glad to hear that you'll be making more videos! From one developer to another, I truly appreciate your perspective on collaboration and talking with people. I love being heads down on a problem but if I were in a job where I was heads down coding all day, every day, I would probably go crazy! I wish you the best in your endeavor to expand the channel content and I look forward to supporting your work in any way I can as a fan of your channel! PS. Looking forward to the newsboat video

  • @Florin76
    @Florin76 ปีที่แล้ว

    I subscribed to support you in this new adventure! It's maybe the season, many of my preferred youtubers in this moment quit their jobs to became full time TH-cam content creators.

  • @borisattva
    @borisattva ปีที่แล้ว

    i was just wondering the other day when your next video will be out.
    congrats on reaching the threshold and mindset where you can do this full time.

  • @gianlucaagus5275
    @gianlucaagus5275 ปีที่แล้ว

    I'm really happy for you! Changes make the wolrd go round. I'm following you from Italy and I think you make wonderfoul video. Like we say in Italy "In bocca lupo" for your new .. JOB!

  • @lawrence_teo
    @lawrence_teo ปีที่แล้ว

    Wow, that'll make Veronica Explains a lot to look forward to. Glad to see a newly-revamped Veronica back in action.

  • @ajlmusic
    @ajlmusic ปีที่แล้ว

    Congratulaions! I also left teaching music last year to pursue my IT business full time.

  • @tallansmith5381
    @tallansmith5381 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love your content and selfishly I am thrilled to hear you are going to be doing this full time. When I was going through college your videos were some of the most helpful and enjoyable to watch. I don't think I would be where I am in my career without them. Congrats on the job change and I wish you the best!

  • @pixelpusher8986
    @pixelpusher8986 ปีที่แล้ว

    So glad you’re doing well and looking for new adventures in Veronica Explains. You’re the best!

  • @shanefera
    @shanefera ปีที่แล้ว

    I've begun a dive down into console linux as I've been feeling nostalgic for that vibe. So I've found your channel at exactly the right time. :)
    Good luck, I look forward to seeing what you continue to build!