Five years after quitting a job, developer’s former boss asked for rapid tech support
- ID
- 14106
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 14 Aug 2026, 2:25 PM
- Fetched
- 14 Aug 2026, 3:11 PM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/08/14/five-years-after-quitting-a-job-developers-former-boss-asked-for-rapid-tech-support/5287229
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 2.0
- Created
- 14 Aug 2026, 3:12 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersdatabase_learners
What happened
A developer who wrote mail-order software in the mid-1980s using the Pick minicomputer OS/database was called back five years later by his former boss after a fired clerk unplugged the machine mid-print in an apparent act of sabotage. The fix was simply plugging it back in and rebooting, for which the developer charged a lucrative fee.
Why it matters
Mildly amusing reminder that institutional knowledge of legacy systems has real value, but the article offers no actionable technical or business takeaway for modern builders.
Discussion angle
Quick icebreaker on whether anyone has been called back to support old code and how they priced it — not worth more than two minutes.