[open-cobol-list] Which formatting convention to use?

[Duke Normandin]

Should a COBOL noob like me be learning the language using the
traditional (strict) formatting conventions in order to learn COBOL
correctly, or is using the "free" source format OK in this
day-and-age?

I was even thinking of using some sort of template, like:

000100*A---B--+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7--
000200 ID DIVISION.
000300 PROGRAM-ID. MY_PROG.
000400 AUTHOR. Duke.
000500 DATA DIVISION.
000600 WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
000700
000800
000900
001000
001100
001200 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
001300 MAIN-PARA.
-- 
duke