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

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  • Опубліковано 21 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,4 тис.

  • @VeronicaExplains
    @VeronicaExplains  Рік тому +220

    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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому +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 Рік тому

      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 Рік тому

      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 Рік тому

      ​@@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 Рік тому +297

    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 Рік тому +7

      Wtf haha:) I like medieval clothing :)

    • @MrFIRESEAL117
      @MrFIRESEAL117 11 місяців тому +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 10 місяців тому +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 10 місяців тому

      @@masaufuku1735 you can run Linux on your Mac.

    • @VitorMadeira
      @VitorMadeira 9 місяців тому +3

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

  • @pavloskairis9994
    @pavloskairis9994 Рік тому +17

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

    • @Dhannibal01
      @Dhannibal01 4 місяці тому

      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 4 місяці тому +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 24 дні тому +1

      I'm learning it right now actually.

  • @foxmccloud8960
    @foxmccloud8960 Рік тому +406

    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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому

      ​@@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 Рік тому +31

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

    • @ITAlpaka
      @ITAlpaka Рік тому +7

      @@VeronicaExplains brr vim🙀

    • @zizlog_sound
      @zizlog_sound Рік тому +27

      Veronica has time now to explain COBOL. 😅

  • @MsPaulathomas
    @MsPaulathomas Рік тому +97

    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 6 місяців тому +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 4 місяці тому +3

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

    • @MsPaulathomas
      @MsPaulathomas 4 місяці тому

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

    • @the_expidition427
      @the_expidition427 4 місяці тому

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

  • @rid9
    @rid9 Рік тому +299

    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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому

      @@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 Рік тому +7

      why cobol?

    • @JstJaybeingJay
      @JstJaybeingJay Рік тому

      Amen.

    • @WereCatf
      @WereCatf Рік тому

      @@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.

  • @IrenicusPalace
    @IrenicusPalace Рік тому +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  Рік тому +21

      Thank you for your support!

    • @kaue5028
      @kaue5028 Рік тому +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.

  • @jpmyers6950
    @jpmyers6950 11 місяців тому +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.

  • @Montegasppa
    @Montegasppa Рік тому +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.

  • @MrVasile
    @MrVasile Рік тому +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 Рік тому

      What's covered in middle school engineering?

  • @yooperpete
    @yooperpete Рік тому +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. 🎉

  • @danielsanichiban
    @danielsanichiban Рік тому +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

  • @yooperpete
    @yooperpete Рік тому +23

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

  • @TheBreamer999
    @TheBreamer999 Рік тому +8

    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 11 місяців тому

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

  • @Kyle-re4mf
    @Kyle-re4mf Рік тому +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 Рік тому +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

  • @guilherme1556
    @guilherme1556 11 місяців тому +3

    Hey Veronica, thanks for continuing this awesome work you are doing here on UA-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  11 місяців тому +1

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

  • @MeisterJager90
    @MeisterJager90 Рік тому +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 🖖🏼🤙🏼

  • @mariochagan9711
    @mariochagan9711 Рік тому +58

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

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  Рік тому +4

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

    • @ricardokullock2535
      @ricardokullock2535 Рік тому +1

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

  • @henriquefreitas1916
    @henriquefreitas1916 Рік тому +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 =)

  • @Kehvarl
    @Kehvarl Рік тому +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!

  • @DanelonNicolas
    @DanelonNicolas Рік тому +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 ❤

  • @mlong5666
    @mlong5666 Рік тому +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 Рік тому +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 💖

  • @DanielMReck
    @DanielMReck Рік тому +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!

  • @FrenziedManbeast
    @FrenziedManbeast Рік тому +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.

  • @aarcaneorg
    @aarcaneorg Рік тому +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 Рік тому

      @@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 Рік тому

      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.

  • @Robert-ln9no
    @Robert-ln9no Рік тому +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.

  • @RafhaelCedeno
    @RafhaelCedeno Рік тому +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  Рік тому +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.

  • @thescurry
    @thescurry Рік тому +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. 😎

  • @TheSuperiorQuickscoper
    @TheSuperiorQuickscoper Рік тому +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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому +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 Рік тому +3

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

    • @Wythaneye
      @Wythaneye Рік тому +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 Рік тому

      @@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).

  • @dastafford
    @dastafford Рік тому +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 :-)

  • @shabnakadyr1564
    @shabnakadyr1564 Рік тому +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.

  • @WhatHoSnorkers
    @WhatHoSnorkers 2 місяці тому

    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!).

  • @ShawnBrezny
    @ShawnBrezny Рік тому +11

    "No body puts Baby in the corner"

  • @peterbates4696
    @peterbates4696 Рік тому +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..

  • @geekwithsocialskills
    @geekwithsocialskills Рік тому +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 🙂

  • @user-nu5ib2ri9o
    @user-nu5ib2ri9o Рік тому +1

    I've just subscribed to your channel. Good luck!

  • @Ybalrid
    @Ybalrid Рік тому +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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому +2

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

    • @dwight4k
      @dwight4k 9 місяців тому

      @@VeronicaExplains Please do.

  • @Kareem-Ahmed
    @Kareem-Ahmed Рік тому +1

    Great to know! Please tell us a lot about Linux, and especially whether it's a "rabbit-hole" of trial and errors or not? I'm stuck with Windows and it sucks. Also, I can't upgrade to Win 11, which I dislike.

  • @osisho3323
    @osisho3323 Рік тому +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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому +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 10 місяців тому +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.

  • @davesnyder7094
    @davesnyder7094 Рік тому +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  Рік тому +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 Рік тому

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

  • @drumyogi9281
    @drumyogi9281 Рік тому +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 Рік тому

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

  • @warthunder1969
    @warthunder1969 Рік тому +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 Рік тому

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

  • @MartinLaskowski
    @MartinLaskowski Рік тому +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! 😊

  • @Hellgreen
    @Hellgreen Рік тому +4

    Keep up these awesome videos!

  • @inrit
    @inrit 9 місяців тому

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

  • @bobd5119
    @bobd5119 4 місяці тому +3

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

  • @henryh9289
    @henryh9289 11 місяців тому +1

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

  • @krzysztofk.8842
    @krzysztofk.8842 Рік тому +7

    I thought cobol devs have pop star wages :)

    • @foxmccloud8960
      @foxmccloud8960 Рік тому

      That's what I heard too

    • @samurphy
      @samurphy Рік тому +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 Рік тому +2

      For Y2K you got to determine your own salary.

    • @Lucretia9000
      @Lucretia9000 Рік тому +1

      If you can read english, you can write cobol.

    • @VeronicaExplains
      @VeronicaExplains  Рік тому +4

      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.

  • @lawrence_teo
    @lawrence_teo Рік тому

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

  • @diggee172
    @diggee172 Рік тому

    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

  • @peterboil4064
    @peterboil4064 Місяць тому +1

    Hello Veronica! How do you think this turned out almost a year later? Lessons learned?
    I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I love the content you put out, including the look & feel and quality of production. You're in my top 3 UA-cam channels.

  • @Gruesome420
    @Gruesome420 7 місяців тому

    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 :)

  • @RachidElBoukiouty
    @RachidElBoukiouty Рік тому

    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

  • @jacevedo770
    @jacevedo770 Рік тому +1

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

  • @XY_Dude
    @XY_Dude Рік тому +1

    good for you! You escaped before sanity went. I am new to Lin. I would love a "Linux for Dummies" video. You are such a great teacher. Very knowledgeable with a super personality. You'll do fine (now)!😊

  • @jbarr
    @jbarr 11 місяців тому

    Veronica, congrats! ironically, I just did the exact opposite! After 34 years in IT, with the last 15 being on the front lines supporting users, I decided to take a left turn and move to RPG/ILE programming on an IBM i platform! I can't wait.

  • @MikeWood
    @MikeWood Рік тому

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

  • @augustocamani
    @augustocamani Рік тому +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.

  • @joenichols590
    @joenichols590 11 місяців тому +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

  • @azeitler7800
    @azeitler7800 Рік тому +1

    As a fellow sys admin and jealous new subscriber you are living the dream. Can’t wait to see what you put up.

  • @MikeRoss-vb8zi
    @MikeRoss-vb8zi Рік тому +2

    Hi Veronica. Just wanted to say good luck with whatever you do in the future. It's a bold and scary decision to quit your job - I know, I did just that exactly 1 year ago. Like you I worked on legacy systems that are still in use by my old employer, based on the Centura development IDE that was popular with many UK financial companies in the 1990's. I quit because they no longer appreciated the skills that I have. In the last year I have taken a career break to do some home improvement projects and to think about my future career path. I'm also of an age that it would be possible for me to stop full time employment and take retirement. Even so, I'm still looking out for new work - maybe something will turn up.
    PS. I learnt COBOL at college along with FORTRAN and other languages :-)

  • @Adalbert777
    @Adalbert777 Рік тому +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.

  • @middle_pickup
    @middle_pickup Рік тому

    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.

  • @Junktown-Tech
    @Junktown-Tech 9 місяців тому

    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!

  • @NomadicBrian
    @NomadicBrian 3 місяці тому

    Did COBOL for 17 years then a bunch of other languages for another 15 years. I like using Linux. Typing this response on a Linux Mint operating system. I offer COBOL part time remote but I'm not doing it 40 hours a week ever again. So glad you are going back to doing what you really enjoy. I like the code and building systems and I hate being a manager and going to meetings watching people argue for an hour.

  • @edgarrod71
    @edgarrod71 Рік тому

    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...

  • @evelinamarinova4099
    @evelinamarinova4099 Рік тому +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

  • @RJNoe
    @RJNoe Рік тому +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!

  • @user-dj2yf6xl5k
    @user-dj2yf6xl5k Рік тому +2

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

  • @busyrand
    @busyrand Рік тому

    Legacy systems transitions is something I've had a fascination with for ages... Very fascinating talk. I didn't know what any of the terms were called...

  • @steveoshaughnessy3736
    @steveoshaughnessy3736 Рік тому +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.

  • @BakerStudiosIndy
    @BakerStudiosIndy Рік тому

    We need more Veronica. It's not even all about the tech... It's about that amazing personality and the smile that would light up a stadium. It's all about you. Bring it... You've got this! 🥰

  • @Wandering_Horse
    @Wandering_Horse Рік тому

    Super Stoked for you! Grab your bags and head to Tahiti for a couple weeks!
    Can't wait for more lil' linux lessons and that long awaited news boat followup video! Congrats! 🤓

  • @VincentTubed
    @VincentTubed Рік тому

    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!

  • @mnky75
    @mnky75 Рік тому

    I work as a Sys Admin on our company's Ubuntu servers. I broke my foot about 2 years ago and I'm waiting for surgery. Luckily my company is fine with me working from home. I sympathise with you about the lack of interaction, again luckily my team all keep in contact. You've definitely made the right choice. Looking forward to more vids!😊

  • @slightlyprofessional
    @slightlyprofessional 8 місяців тому

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

  • @TallgrassMeander
    @TallgrassMeander Рік тому +1

    Congratulations and all the best! Also, sweet SC2000 reference in there!

  • @redlegoman4088
    @redlegoman4088 4 місяці тому

    I have only just today found your channel, and I'm in love. sorry, not like that. I love your enthusiasm and excitement about the dull nerdy crap I like. I really hope you do find your place at the front. this video, in particular, brought a lump to my throat. you're starting a new chapter, and it looks like your future is bright! I guess I'm going to have to add yet another Patreon payout to my list!

  • @thedourkin
    @thedourkin 10 місяців тому

    I studied computer science at college using COBOL and since then I've had to use it professionally exactly 0 times. This is a good thing because the worst of times would have been so much worse had COBOL been involved. Good luck with VE on the YouToobs, I'll be tuning in from time to time.

  • @matt_kelly
    @matt_kelly 7 місяців тому

    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.

  • @robbehr8806
    @robbehr8806 Рік тому

    I'm a retired software engineer and consultant. There are so many stories to tell. Many of us have the same stories of corporate politics, narcissistic manners, and crazy group dynamics. On the subject of COBOL, it's actually a very efficient language designed for very slick conversion into compact machine code without the need of a runtime interpreter. For preparing bare-bones reports, it's excellent. I didn't do a lot of COBOL, but when I did, it felt like running assembler code on a mainframe -- super fast and so simple not much could mysteriously go wrong.

  • @ajlmusic
    @ajlmusic 11 місяців тому

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

  • @brotkastn107
    @brotkastn107 Рік тому

    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.

  • @choppedcheesegaming
    @choppedcheesegaming Рік тому +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

  • @CuBsSm24
    @CuBsSm24 Рік тому

    Newsboat follow up video!! The words I’ve been waiting to hear!!

  • @tallansmith5381
    @tallansmith5381 Рік тому

    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!

  • @LouHoop
    @LouHoop Рік тому

    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!

  • @tom95076
    @tom95076 Рік тому

    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.

  • @eyemelkay
    @eyemelkay Рік тому

    I was suggested this video. I learnt programming back in the 80’s using COBOL, so it is good seeing it is still talked about.

  • @Vlad-1986
    @Vlad-1986 Рік тому

    Lol, nice Sim City 2000 reference. Find difficult to understand, as you had my dream job and dealing with people day to day would be my nightmare, but if you love it so much that is awesome! I can still remember my coding lecturer at college, he is awesome.

  • @ObsidianMercian
    @ObsidianMercian Рік тому

    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 UA-cam.

  • @MadBison
    @MadBison Рік тому +1

    Wow, I escaped CICS, COBOL, Telon, IMS in the early 90s, and have lost count of how many programming and scripting languages I have used in my career since then. I still get job offers for COBOL work in overseas locations, so there's still a lot of important legacy code working out there! New sub, as I am a recent Linux convert, always learning.

  • @BoogieDownBXX
    @BoogieDownBXX 10 місяців тому

    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!

  • @8BitInsekt
    @8BitInsekt Рік тому

    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!

  • @DavidDavisL
    @DavidDavisL Рік тому

    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)!

  • @PlatyBZH
    @PlatyBZH 11 місяців тому

    Hi ! It takes some guts to take such a leap. I look forward for what's to come, and will definitly support you as I can !
    Take care, the introvert army will take care of the behind-the-scene jobs for you 😂

  • @zemmel63
    @zemmel63 Рік тому

    It's very nice that you want to focus on talking about things that fascinate you and explaining things to us.
    I think you are very good at that and I am looking forward to many exciting videos from you.
    Greetings from Germany...