I do a lot of engineering software and a lot of that is in Fortran. A few years ago I migrated a system with 400 thousand lines of VAX-Fortran code to Linux, using g77. Recently I had to install this system in a new computer, running Ubuntu Lucid. To my dismay, I learned that Lucid doesn't have the g77 package anymore, the gcc compiler suite has been "upgraded" to gfortran. And gfortran does not support the VAX extensions that g77 did.
Luckily there's still a way to install g77 in Lucid using the Hardy repositories, but how long will this last?
Had the old engineers said, "OK, Fortran is dead, let's just keep a legacy compiler to run old code" everything would have been fine. But no, they insist on "improving" Fortran by putting C language features, e.g. pointers, into it. Why can't they just learn to program in C and let the old compilers do what they are good for, which is running legacy code?
I once signed a petition to retire Fortran [fortranstatement.com],
1. Horse puckey. Find a distribution that contains g77. Or compile g77 from source for your target platform. If you have maintained a 400 K LOC program then building g77 should be no problem.
2. gfortran goes out of its way to compile old g77 code.
3. Don't knock Fortran 90/95/2000/2003 etc because YOU can't write standard conforming code. Learn to use the tools properly instead of bitching about them. Modern Fortran gives you the facilities to replace almost all VAXisms. The only thing I know that will not convert well are VAX extensions that involve various RMS files. BTDT. If you are using keyed or ISAM files on the VAX, then you deserve to be hosed.
4. I don't care how Atlas is optimized. For me, having true multidimensional arrays indexed the way I want them brings me more optimization than C could ever do. Plus the "read only" code that C and C++ encourages creates horrors even worse than the oldest dusty program from FORTRAN IV days. Modules etc catch all sorts of errors that C/C++ compilers happily allow.
5. None of this justifies paying junior developers more, but your level of CRI does.
6. I was programming in Fortran long before you were born. So get off my lawn!