We're golden

The SDMB is probably the best site on the web for checking up on recent slang.

I’ve been hearing this at work, in meetings. The software developers and database admins, and so on, whenever they’re asked about the progress of some new patch or data migration, at some point say “we’re gold” or “we’re golden.”

I take it this means something like “good to go”–is that right? Where did this expression originate?

Workplace slang, like any other kind of slang, has to continually replenish and replace itself. Seems like a lot of it comes from either the military or the sports world (I remember the first time I heard “that’s not a slam dunk” from one of the company’s accountants).

Whatever source this came from, I doubt the guys who use it were thinking of Joni Mitchell’s lyric

Its fairly old usage in the computer industry, I think it originates from software on CD. You had to produce a “gold master” which was the master template for producing the CDs.

I thought it came from “good as gold”.