[AndrewO]

In your opinion, why do you think they stay away from HN or Stack Overflow? Is it just that there's nothing there for them specifically or would you say that they're (on average) less interested in the wider programming ecosystem?

[wooby]

I'm not sure this kind of entrenchment is endemic of COBOL programmers specifically. I knew plenty of people in college who, once they knew Java, were perfectly content with their ability to program, and will probably be happily employed for the foreseeable future. I think it just boils down to the difference between the 9am-5pm'ers and the 5pm-9am'ers.

[ryansloan]

I think it's a combination of factors. The obvious factor is that there is no COBOL content there. These communities tend to be focused on new and developing technologies, which aren't really relevant to their work most of the time.

I think the less obvious factor is related to the COBOL mentality. In COBOL's heyday, they didn't have communities like this (yeah yeah, usenet, BBS, I know, I know) so they figured out how to live without them. The old whitehaired COBOL gurus passed these traditions down, and it just became a way of life. Any COBOL-related help you need can probably be provided by the lifer in the cube down the aisle. They are a fairly self-sufficient group.

That being said, I am interested to see how the COBOL community changes when people from my generation start taking these jobs. I didn't stop reading when I was hired, and I don't think that most of the others will, either.