From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,5cb36983754f64da X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2004-04-05 13:39:09 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!sn-xit-02!sn-xit-06!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!corp.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: "Randy Brukardt" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: No call for Ada (was Re: Announcing new scripting/prototyping language) Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 15:38:49 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: <1073gv22t969q5a@corp.supernews.com> References: <20040206174017.7E84F4C4114@lovelace.ada-france.org> <54759e7e.0402071124.322ea376@posting.google.com> <406EB6D2.8030801@noplace.com> <87d66pyw1g.fsf@insalien.org> <406EEC35.7040109@noplace.com> <874qs0zvy1.fsf@insalien.org> <40714C98.90601@noplace.com> X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4807.1700 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4910.0300 X-Complaints-To: abuse@supernews.com Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:6754 Date: 2004-04-05T15:38:49-05:00 List-Id: "Marin David Condic" wrote in message news:40714C98.90601@noplace.com... > Why did Java - starting out from zero - garner a large user base? > Because Sun was big and Sun was promoting it hard and Sun forced it on > people? The same could be said for Ada and the DoD. Java catches on and > Ada doesn't? Maybe Java was satisfying some needs out there pretty well. > Maybe Ada could take a lesson on that score and go out and satisfy some > customer needs better than any other choice. The reason that Java got successful (like the reason that *anything* or *anyone* gets successful) was luck. Sun got what had been a widely ignored language/system tied to a skyrocket (the internet) by putting applet support into Netscape. That got the foot in the door where heavy promotion could make an effect. Remember, it's a combination of luck and marketing that makes anyone or anything successful. Merit has very little to do with it - the only requirement being that the product fufill some (but not necessarily all) of its promises. Most software is crap because you can sell crap as well as easily as gold-plated programs. Since most managers know this, why would they care if they use crap to develop it? It's the same reason that so many software jobs are being outsourced -- there it's any reason to get anything beyond an adequate job at the cheapest possible rate. Those of us who would like something better are swimming upstream in the Niagara River; we're almost (but not certainly) doomed to fail. Randy.