Re: INFO-ADA Digest V93 #359

[cis.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!seas.gwu.edu!mfeld man@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Michael Feldman)]

In article <EMERY.93Jun8102111@goldfinger.mitre.org> emery@goldfinger.mitre.org
 (David Emery) writes:
>
>The Ada9X effort has acknowleged the importance of a rich set of
>'standard packages', and it will be very interesting to see how the
>various 9X annexes (e.g. Real-Time, Information Systems, etc) work
>out.  There are a lot of secondary/associated standards, such as the
>ISO mathematical functions packages and the various binding efforts
>such as POSIX, SAMeDL, etc.  
>
>Perhaps the problem is that no one has really done a good job of
>pulling this stuff together and presenting it to the community.
>

Aha! Now we're getting to the heart of the matter. There really is a lot
of good stuff out there, but no really effective information source.
On bindings, the nearest one gets is a report by the AdaIC called
"Available Ada Bindings" or some such thing. The two possible problems
with this are

(1) AdaIC has not historically been aggressive in collecting information,
much better at processing what others send them. AdaIC is becoming much
more proactive, though.

(2) As an AJPO-funded organization, AdaIC must be scrupulously neutral
and impartial. All they can do is crank out lists of things; they are
neither technically nor politically able to _review_ them.

Now THERE's a job for Greg! I wish somebody could find a way to pay
him to do what he seems to do well: collect data and express opinions!
Anybody got some bucks to slip him?

Another approach is to create an FAQ list to which people could send
reviews of Ada-related software products and bindings. Maybe if we
work REALLY hard at it, we could even make this newsgroup such a forum.
Then the good stuff could get put into an FAQ by some willing volunteer.

'Course we'd have to agree to quit the flamewars, otherwise precisely the
folks who ought to be reading the group will get bored and disappear.

What say you, net-landers?

Mike
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Michael B. Feldman -  co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee
Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
The George Washington University -  Washington, DC 20052 USA
202-994-5253 (voice) - 202-994-5296 (fax) - mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet)
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