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eLoon has stated that he will be writing all new code for the Social Security system. Oh and he will do it in a month.
I cannot emphasize enough how ridiculous this sounds to any professional IT person. We know that it is absolutely impossible to do it right in that time. It's not an opinion. It cannot be done right without significant issues. Like won't work at all issues.
The Social Security system is written in COBOL and is likely one of the most complex systems in the world.
This is a nightmare scenario. These idiots destroy the Social Security system forever, which is the most likely outcome per people a lot smarter than me, will absolutely turn the country upside down and crush the US economy to dust. This will be France 1789 level stuff
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surfered
(5,800 posts)
Bread and Circuses
(656 posts)
C_U_L8R
(46,838 posts)and it will get so screwed up. Let's hope whatever mess they make never launches.
littlemissmartypants
(27,036 posts)Teslas can be autonomous.
swong19104
(393 posts)So whatever AI is being applied here, it’s garbage in, garbage out.
slightlv
(5,228 posts)Even more than that, I wouldn't put it past them to start changing everything without doing backups first. Thus, they'll not only screw everything up, code-wise, but all lose the databases that store all our info... like how much we get each month!!! And, how much we've contributed over our lifetimes of work.
Anyone in KS wanna go together or meet up at the State Capitol in Topeka on 4/5?!
Irish_Dem
(66,998 posts)C_U_L8R
(46,838 posts)Last edited Sat Mar 29, 2025, 08:09 AM - Edit history (2)
Can you imagine a horde of implant-enhanced magats and doges going random and shitting themselves because of Elon's ketamine-fueled broken code? Derp derp derpy derp.
Irish_Dem
(66,998 posts)
the_liberal_grandpa
(160 posts)I saw a clip from a few years ago where fElon said we would leave for Mars in 2024 and be there in 2025.
This guy i a fucking lunatic and way overrated as a businessman and engineer.
Irish_Dem
(66,998 posts)
Dan
(4,491 posts)Seniors, people on disability and the people that rely on the money that SS brings into the economy are going to suffer. And suffer badly, the ripple effect will tank Wall Street.
You allude to 1789 - yes, the guillotines will be out and even the dumb ass MAGA (some of them) will wake up.
hamsterjill
(15,721 posts)I just recently retired and I've applied for SS - that's a whole other story. But the retirement has given me the freedom to run errands on weekdays as opposed to having to fit everything into the weekend.
I decided to run errands this past Tuesday. I had several stops to make - like six. Hitting places where sales were happening to stretch my money. At EVERY SINGLE PLACE, the majority of shoppers (and there were a LOT OF THEM) were people at least my age or older. Most with shopping carts full. You take that segment out of the economy, and businesses are going to suffer and suffer mightily.
BidenRocks
(1,253 posts)I do the same as you, only with one bag.
A cart demands to be filled.
I also let the store keep things cold and frozen.
Nothing but time to look for markdowns and sales.
krkaufman
(13,820 posts)Even better imagined recited Liam Neeson-style from Taken.
CitizenZero
(636 posts)I would imagine that most social security money goes to landlords, supermarkets, and pharmacies. Rent, food, and meds. All those sectors will take a big hit. I think most hospitals rely on Medicare and Medicaid for something like 60% of their revenue. Many hospitals are already strapped. If you kill those revenue sources, how are doctors, nurses, and support staff going to get paid? These MAGA people are either ignorant or willfully malevolent. The economy is going to take a massive hit.
Dan
(4,491 posts)And that is the Great Depression. One of the reasons for SS., of course the GOP has always hated that the great unwashed had/has a safety net. Now, the GOP will get rid of it - and when that happens, I suspect that a lot of the GOP might end up seeing dirt in their eyes. It is ugly now and it is going to get a whole lot uglier.
Trump (and the GOP) think that he will be able to get the military to fight Americans, well some will, but I suspect that the lowly enlisted man/woman might find that we all share a common enemy.
I don’t think that we will make it to the Fall before all hell breaks lose.
RainCaster
(12,471 posts)When they fuck it up to and they will, they will have to go back to the old system. They can only do that if they have a full backup.
If not, the Muskrat should be liable for all of our checks until the old system comes back on line.
Ms. Toad
(36,433 posts)You run redundant parallel systems for longer than they were planning for the entire replacement process.
Delmette2.0
(4,326 posts)And fixing, more testimg, and fixing them more testing.
25 years ago i helped test and new system and it seemed like forever with testing. And then a gradual roll out.
ChazInAz
(2,871 posts)Those years straddled Y2K. It took us years to code for that, and even though New Year's Eve went off without anything untoward happening, we were wary for glitches for quite some time afterwards.
Musk has no idea what he's doing.
Delmette2.0
(4,326 posts)and technicians.
here's to the computer people who are underappreciated.
Trueblue1968
(18,433 posts)
Mme. Defarge
(8,669 posts)Anticipating the demand for shrouds.
Voltaire2
(15,360 posts)kept scheming to subvert the, in retrospect, mild reforms that created a constitutional monarchical republic.
Joinfortmill
(17,687 posts)dchill
(41,769 posts)Cheezoholic
(2,832 posts)CitizenZero
(636 posts)I am not a big tech guy, but I was taught early on by a math teacher that you should always keep back ups of your old systems in case your new one does not work correctly. Always have back ups and redundant systems. Do you think that Musk and DOGE will keep the old systems as back ups even if they try to install new code? Would they also bring in new hardware, or will they use the existing tech and just write new code over the old code? I would like to hear a IT professional's opinion.
angrychair
(10,433 posts)Been in IT for 31 years. My assumption is they would write it in a newer code on a unix or system with all new hardware.
The existing system is in COBOL on a mainframe system.
I'm dramatically oversimplifying it. You could literally write a PhD thesis paper in Computer Science on the Social Security system and I'm sure people have in the past. I cannot express enough how complicated a system it is and how complicated it would be to stand up a new system with fresh code and hardware. I am honestly am not even sure it's possible. A project like that would be legendary. It would take an army of programmers and project managers and a host of other people years to do it and it still likely would not work.
The existing system has been built up and tweaked and updated and curated for decades.
No sane person, who had any idea what they are talking about, would ever imply they could do it in a month.
CitizenZero
(636 posts)Thanks for the informative reply. Scary stuff though.
yellow dahlia
(2,094 posts)I am zeroed in on the Social Security take over.
It will be a financial and societal apocalypse. The courts need to stop them.
Alice Kramden
(2,554 posts)
Shipwack
(2,559 posts)Back when he was on the board for what eventually became PayPal, he kept insisting on a change. He wanted them to rewrite all the existing (working) code to Windows at. It was in Unix, and because he didn't understand Unix he insisted it be changed.
The board ignored him, and that was one of the many reasons he was shown the door.
angrychair
(10,433 posts)Did not know that. He is such a big fraud.
Lokee11
(314 posts)Especially for a fake ass fraud who does not know what the Fuck he is doing in the first place.
I admit I am pretty sure he can read - unlike his stupid Orange co-conspirator - but one of the biggest fake outs of all time is that Loon getting everyone (including me initially) to believe he is some kind of fuckin' genius when really he is just a little pompous rich boy who was lucky enough to latch on to people who actually did possess some "talent". Had he not been born with a silver/emerald spoon in his mouth, like his Orange cohort, he would be dead already or a fucking loser by any and all measures.
Fuck eLoon and FDT!!!
Cheezoholic
(2,832 posts)It took years in many cases and involved hundreds of professionals from all aspects of the IT world and probably most important and under appreciated, dozens and dozens of highly skilled project managers.
Musckovite and his script kiddies couldn't write code for a decent version Zork.
Skittles
(162,976 posts)otherwise, absolutely CORRECT
Cheezoholic
(2,832 posts)
Skittles
(162,976 posts)I find myself constantly looking up words I've used SO many times but suddenly it's like, WTF
BidenRocks
(1,253 posts)just to run and debug a new system?
All while keeping the old system running.
We cannot afford a RUD!
angrychair
(10,433 posts)I honestly don't think it's possible at all. I have heard of projects not even half as complicated, that were legendary in their time.
There is a reason it's in COBOL on a mainframe system still. Millions and millions of lines of code, built up and tweaked and modified, likely over decades.
Wiz Imp
(4,509 posts)Functional requirements specify the essential functions and features that an IT system must possess. They describe what the system should do and how it should behave under various conditions. Examples of functional requirements include user authentication, data processing, and report generation.
https://requirements.com/Content/What-is/what-are-it-requirements#:~:text=IT%20requirements%20are%20detailed%20specifications,needs%20and%20expectations%20of%20stakeholders.
Skittles
(162,976 posts)but as someone who worked mainframe ops for decades, the idea it can be done quickly is INSANE
they just want to BREAK IT 
NoRethugFriends
(3,237 posts)airplaneman
(1,314 posts)NoRethugFriends
(3,237 posts)
Igel
(36,663 posts)Maybe Icon.
NoRethugFriends
(3,237 posts)NoRethugFriends
(3,237 posts)Klarkashton
(3,218 posts)Years. Musk is a fraud and a world class bullshitter.
Wiz Imp
(4,509 posts)Such a project would definitely require a minimum of 5 to 10 YEARS.
Igel
(36,663 posts)Is not "order of magnitudes."
Silent Type
(8,809 posts)And, they’d have to run parallel for awhile. Miss SS checks and millions of GOPer beneficiaries will pull their guns out, not to mention millions more including younger folks who have to help mom/grandma out.
JanMichael
(25,553 posts)
DFW
(57,602 posts)If you had been a nicer king
We wouldn’t do a thing
But you were bad, you must admit.
We’re gonna take you and the queen
Down to the guillotine
And shorten you a little bit
yellow dahlia
(2,094 posts)They are lying and gaslighting.
And fauxnews and the RWmedia and the RepugliCONS are propagating the disinformation and smoke and mirrors...all day long.
Aussie105
(6,921 posts)FOX and RW media are salivating at the idea they will be the only media left once the pogrom on the serious media starts up.
Done some COBOL programming in my younger days.
Perfect for financial matters, but a bit of a cantankerous beast that doesn't tolerate fools.
Needs lots of testing, lots of what-if scenarios, needs lots of protections from mishandled inputs.
Not for the faint hearted - or Musk's script kiddies.
yellow dahlia
(2,094 posts)Thanks for the geeky explanations.
elocs
(23,836 posts)who are on one form or another of Social Security. They are the mothers and fathers, grandparents of tens of millions of others who may also have voted for Trump and Republicans. Now one would think that would bother them, potentially losing the votes of so many who would feel betrayed, but it doesn't. Why is that? Could it be because they are not worried about elections anymore?
I saw Trump in an interview and he was asked if he wanted Vance to be his successor and he straightforwardly answered, "no". Is that because he feels no need for a successor since he won't be leaving when his term is up? Because once he leaves, his legal woes will come crashing down on him. And by then he will be 82 years old going on 83 which by his definition is Alzheimer old and he not exactly sharp minded now.
Cne99999
(31 posts)Write a deploy script and database and front end in SQL, that records user info from a basic tech support form, tracks their transactions and can report all the details for a complex tech support site.
Re-writing Social Security's DB and front end in one month is a fallacy. Even with 1,000 advanced DBA's and Programmers et al
He will write it to direct the money to him I bet.
WTMFF!
camartinwv
(114 posts)Aussie105
(6,921 posts)They have a lot in common.
Musk's script kiddies won't be versed in COBOL, and ask any of them why the Y2K bug was a potential problem.
They won't know. They'd be too young.
The early writers of the COBOL code in use would have taken some serious steps to minimize storage and memory use in execution, ie no century prefix or annotations in the code.
Then there would have been additions and extensions on the original code.
Lots of programmers, lots of years of development involved.
William769
(58,148 posts)
Jack Valentino
(1,701 posts)"France 1789 level stuff"..... they lost their heads.
If Donald and Elon lose theirs, that would just be "too bad", wouldn't it.
It is becoming pretty clear, that they just want to wreck Social Security....
Nobody voted for that.
Luz
(845 posts)all DOGE has done. Eloon has told the maga idiots that he has found and recovered over 1 trillion in fraud, but has nothing to back that up. The maga morons don't need or want proof of anything, they just want to believe it's so.
In other words, he's all hat and no cattle.
Norbert
(6,945 posts)as he so often stated. Never mind the basic tenets of Social has worked for well over 80 years and the programming for this has been in place for decades.
bucolic_frolic
(49,457 posts)We should all query an AI service to replicate, in its judgment, the current SS system in Python or similar. Would it even understand?
That's the problem with AI. It doesn't understand. It synthesizes research of everything better. But it doesn't problem solve the way humans do. Don't believe them if they disagree.
RandomNumbers
(18,480 posts)It royally pi**es me right the f*ck off because I'm, let's say, rather senior in my job and getting tired of it ... I have basically been keeping retirement in my back pocket. That is, up til now when things get too crazy at my job, I can (or was able to) keep the perspective of "well I can retire any day now so f*ck em if what I'm doing here isn't good enough". That perspective really lowers the anxiety of dealing with the daily craziness at work.
Understand, I do realize there are loads of people who are WAY more vulnerable to what is going on, so speaking of "perspective" ... BUT now I am back to having to actually care about some of the less sensible instructions that are sent my way. Sigh.
One small quibble with the OP. Where it says "The Social Security system ... is likely one of the most complex systems in the world." Um, I seriously doubt that - at least from the perspective of the requirements it needs to meet. I work with enterprise software that crosses many more domains than what I believe SS and SSDI need to do (for example SS doesn't worry about manufacturing products). THAT said, the RELIABILITY should be right up there with defense stuff, because people's lives depend on it. And it is likely that the code is very tightly coupled, which is a bad thing meaning it is hard to rewrite pieces separately. In fact if you said "is likely one of the most tightly-coupled systems in the world" I would probably agree. (and maybe that is what you mean by "complex" in this case)
Bottom line is we are on a course for disaster if the LOON actually implements the nonsense he is talking about.
angrychair
(10,433 posts)Taking very complicated things and making it somewhat easier for people to understand but sometimes that causes certain finer points to get lost.
So the entire system is a lot like other older, large organizations, like a defense contractor, a shipyard, I used to work at, that has a combination of modern computers and Windows and Unix servers managing data in a SAN network and using SQL and Oracle databases. But also running IBM mainframe DB2 and some of the SAN data being manipulated using CA-IDMS, MADAM, and IBM’s VSAM.
Of course the IBM mainframe is using software in COBOL and the CA-IDMS is using the older and likely not used much of anywhere else, CODASYL data model.
Obviously still oversimplifying but I've read 100+ page documents on the IT infrastructure. It's amazing how much about their infrastructure they are willing to share. I've had to look that all up as I'm not a federal employee and have never been one. Fascinating reading though. If you're interested I got give you a link.
TygrBright
(21,084 posts)Data architecture is complex, to start with. Reconciling past versions to ensure compatibility and useful access is a major effort.
Polling and testing user expectations and adaptation is a lengthy, recursive process.
But more than all of those, the most difficult aspect of any major change in a database is getting everyone involved to understand what specifications will mean to them in terms of the finished product, and getting buy-in and participation from key players throughout the process.
If you can do all that and do it well, you might emerge with a usable, well-updated tool that will provide uninterrupted service and generate improved access and reporting of information.
Writing code for an entire massive hyperdatabase in one month?
If you believe that, I can sell you shares in some lovely waterfront real estate on great terms. PM me.
cynically,
Bright
Evolve Dammit
(20,422 posts)