zcobol is a discussion group for users of the open source zcobol portable mainframe COBOL compiler. The zcobol compiler supports compiling multiple dialects of COBOL into any one of several target language executable programs including HLASM compatible mainframe assembler, Java, C++, or HLA/MASM compatible Intel assembler. The initial release has focused primarily on the HLASM target environment and supports both static and dynamic linking of COBOL and assembler programs plus EXEC CICS and SOA extensions. Users may download the zcobol compiler which will be installed with the z390 portable mainframe assembler starting March 3, 2009 after the SHARE presentation in Austin. Users will be able to post questions and discuss issues and alternative solutions.