Re: What is wrong with Ada?

[AJAskey <AskeyAJ@gmail.com>]

On Apr 21, 9:50 am, "jimmaureenrog...@worldnet.att.net"
<jimmaureenrog...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:

> I do not know which planet you live on. I started downloading GNAT
> in 1994 and have been using it on my home machine since then.

Sure the geeks could download stuff in 1994.  The average person did
not have this opportunity until the late 1990s - after the DoD
shutdown the Ada funding.  Google ADA and see all the sites that have
not been updated since 1998.  Ada need to be marketed to program
managers, not developers.  In 2000, there were plenty of advocates in
the developer community.  As time goes on, PMs know less and less
about Ada.

>
> What is the procedure for obtaining tools for other languages?
> Can you obtain trial version of JUnit without filling out some form?
> Can you obtain trial versions of any Microsoft product at all?
>

We downloaded Java for free with free Netbeans and Eclipse.  If we
need a "tool" then we do need to go through the evaluation process.
But the problem is that Ada is the "base" and not a "tool".  No one is
going to pay for entry into a development language when others are
free.  People will pay to enhance the tool.  But paying to evaluate
something on a small scale for a year isn't going to happen on a
regular basis.


>
> This is a rather strange posting. Most large companies I know of
> have little reluctance buying additional licenses for a product
> already
> shown to be effective in a different project or department. A contract
> for one project puts the vendor on the approved vendor list. It is not
> difficult to buy products from approved vendors.
>
> Jim Rogers

I agree that follow license are easy to get. But few departments in my
company use AdaCore or Aonix at this point.  Some do elsewhere in the
country, I'm sure, but I have no access to them.  As I said, all new
projects are using Java/C++ and other new technologies.  The gov't is
constantly asking how much it will cost to go move from Ada on an
existing project to Java/C++.  IBM/Rational, AdaCore, Aonix tools are
user-friendly - but they have no friends with the people who count -
the people with the money.

Andy