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=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,2a8a4ec5c7e0aa5e X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1993-03-11 19:47:25 PST Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Path: sparky!uunet!haven.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Subject: Re: Marketing Ada Message-ID: <1993Mar11.221401.13805@seas.gwu.edu> Sender: news@seas.gwu.edu Organization: George Washington University References: <1993Mar5.144541.10975@mcc.com> <1993Mar9.042400.2812@seas.gwu.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1993 22:14:01 GMT Date: 1993-03-11T22:14:01+00:00 List-Id: In article <1993Mar9.042400.2812@seas.gwu.edu> mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) writes: >In article tne@world.std.com (Thomas N Erickson) writes: > >[stuff deleted] >> >>Don't count Alsys in the above. We are positive about the future of Ada >>outside of defense and are doing things about it. The efforts are >>extremely targetted at this time, but next year (94) should see a much >>broader emphasis. >> >Ummm - excuse me for being skeptical, Tom. I've been around Ada for 10 >years (actually more, but let's start from 1815A's adoption). What I've >heard EVERY year from all the vendors I've spoken to (and that's most >of the ones whose names we'd all recognize) is "well, that's great but >we really don't have the budget to do that big marketing push just now, >so you'll have to wait till next year." After 10 "next year's", I'm still >waiting for the magical next year. Somehow I don't think it would be >prudent for me to hold my breath... > [stuff deleted] Colleagues: I owe you all an apology. It has come to my attention through private correspondence that these comments were open to serious misinterpretation as a direct slur on Alsys or, worse, on Tom. Au contraire, Tom is one of the few Ada- industry officials who reads and responds to the net on a regular basis. It's apparent that he is doing his best to keep his ear to the ground and respond informatively where doing so is pertinent. In this he deserves encouragement. And Alsys has gone, in about 18 months' time, from perhaps the least education-friendly vendor to one of the most friendly. Their academic pricing (what they call the LEAP program) is aggressive and affordable, and their people are generally friendly and helpful, in my recent experience. The number of Alsys entries in the "Who's Using Ada Report" demonstrates both their growing non-defense customer base and their willingness to have this publicized. My skepticism is generic and was aimed at the industry as a whole, not at Alsys in particular. We have heard ten years' worth of grand plans for building a bigger Ada market. Indeed, the fast-growing list of non- defense projects suggests that some of these plans may be bearing fruit. I certainly hope so! Maybe it'll be different this time. I remain skeptical about whether the industry in general really knows how to build markets. I fear that the Ada vendors may be all too typical of defense companies, which even as we speak are tearing their hair out trying to figure out how to cope in the post-Cold War world (see today's news for some Clinton-administration discussion of this matter). The Ada companies perceived their market to be mainly DoD-oriented and captive and, in their myopia, missed the C++ wave coming and never built up marketing and sales expertise to break Ada loose from its defense origins and give it a real life of its own. There are signs of change, but - without slamming any one company or individual - I think our skepticism is well-founded and even constructive. Today's buzzword is "dual-use technology" - technology useful for both defense and non-defense applications. Ada is a _programming language_ and a damn good one, and as such is - without changing a byte of a compiler or a letter of the LRM - dual-use technology. My hope is that all the Ada companies will realize what a gem they've got, and find the imagination and the funds to really let the world know. I think they can do it. Alsys, Tom, I apologize for writing what seemed to be an ad hominem slam. I've tried very hard not to write such stuff to the net, and to be a voice of reason here. I blew this one, I guess. My generic skepticism still stands. I would be delighted to be proved wrong! Cheers all - Mike Feldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science School of Engineering and Applied Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 USA (202) 994-5253 (voice) (202) 994-5296 (fax) mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet) "The most important thing is to be sincere, and once you've learned how to fake that, you've got it made." -- old show-business adage ------------------------------------------------------------------------