Re: What to Do?

[David Kristola <David95037@See-My.Sig>]

On Mon, 1 Jan 2001 9:08:47 -0800, Ehud Lamm wrote
(in message <92qdnn$jfg$1@news.huji.ac.il>):

> In fact, I think one problem Ada had (note past tense) was lack of amateurs. 
> As opposed to such "cool" languages like C++ and Java (and in the old day 
> Turbo Pascal), most hobbyist never hear of Ada, or hear misleading info (see 
> Jargon File). I think these days things are changing a bit (I am judging 
> mainly from this group,  AdaPower etc.)
> 
> I think that if we succeed in making the Ada community larger, by attracting 
> hobbyists, the "real world" situation will improve too. (I still haven't 
> found the time to write "Why should Hackers Love Ada?" If anyone wnats to 
> write it, feel free...)

I've been an Ada advocate on a few of the MUD news groups.  Many people 
over there have not even heard of the language.  On the other hand, 
many are programming MUDs specifically to learn "C/C++".

Good free software is important to most (if not all) hobbyists.  Many 
are students with limited resources exploring new ideas.  GNAT makes 
Ada freely available (thanks Ada Core Technologies!).

If anyone here is interested in watching the development process, i've 
been posting new alpha versions of SAM (Simple Ada MUD) on my website:

http://members.aol.com/drveg/mud/index.html

--djk, keeper of arcane lore & trivial fluff

PS:  Who would have guessed that Milpitas CA (USA) would be a hotbed 
for hobbyist Ada development?  Bill Dale recently posted information 
about his hobbyist Ada development activities here in Milpitas.