[kimi]

COBOL was used for more mundane tasks - a lot of data loading, formatting, batches of all kinds. Not all of which seemed so important when they were written, but that ended up being a plug nobody wants to take the risk of disconnecting.....

[coldtea]

If they're still run, they're still important if not crucial.

I don't think they do data loading and batch processing on stuff they don't need.

[kimi]

Exactly. But sometimes they were built as a "quick patch, we'll do this right later" and then improved and changed and.... you see the picture.