[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.