Re: Help chip-in to fund Navy NSWC Ada math library

[saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!relay!apssgi.nswc.navy.mil!bwallet@ames.arc.nasa .gov (Brad Wallet)]

In article <C7owrD.G3t@world.std.com>, srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian
) writes:
|>     Here's a good example of the schizophrenic behavior of the DoD when
|> it comes to software reuse and Ada.  For many years the Naval Surface
|> Warfare Center has distributed a large (100,000+ LOC) Fortran numerical
|> analysis library to the public.  The library is comparable to those
|> available commercial, is free and comes with documentation.  In fact,
|> they just announced that the 1993 version is available.  If you want a
|> copy, give your name and address to:
|> 
|> 		R.D. Johnson, Code D4T
|> 		Naval Surface Warfare Center
|> 		Dahlgren Division
|> 		White Oak Detachment
|> 		10901 New Hampshire Avenue
|> 		Silver Spring, MD  20903-5000
|> 		301-394-1505
|> 
|>     Now here's the tragedy of this nice package.  The main developer, one
|> Al Morris of the NSWC, is retiring, and this package will no longer be
|> supported.  When I asked about an Ada version, one of the technical guys
|> just laughed hysterically and said no one was interested in supporting
|> this package, in any language, any more.
|> 
|>     This from the DoD which is supposed to be promoting software reuse, is 
|> supposed to be promoting Ada usage through needed libraries, is supposed to
|> be insuring that this current downsizing doesn't lead to the institutional
|> memory loss of knowledge on hundreds of similar reusable software systems
|> floating throughout the DoD.
|> 
|>     So in an effort to be positive, as my "fans" on c.l.a. suggest, I am
|> starting a fund to raise money to help the NSWC continue to support this
|> package and convert it to Ada.  My target is $50,000, which should enable
|> them, along with some of their own funds, to do something that would
|> really help Ada and software reuse.
|> 
|>     Your donations are tax deductible, and you will get a copy of the first
|> edition of the library and documentation on a CD-ROM.  So let's see if we
|> can take some of these desparately needed Ada policies into our own hands,
|> and pull Ada out of the comatose state it is in.
|> 
|>     Contact me if you are interested in helping with the fund raising.
|> 
|> Greg Aharonian
|> Source Translation & Optimization
|> 
|> -- 
|> **************************************************************************
|>  Greg Aharonian
|>  Source Translation & Optimization
|>  P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178

It is a drastic misrepresentation of the truth to say that NSWCDD
is not committed to Ada software reuse.  The advanced technologies
branch here has a software reuse team which has been of great ser-
vice to my group in the past year.  We also make use of DoD avail-
able service such as DSRS.

My understanding of the math library is that it was meant to be
used for analysis purpose.  Very little analysis is done in Ada.
Note, this is changing;  my group does system simulations in Ada,
and we have been very pleased with the language for this purpose.
While I am not aware of the details of the decision to no longer
support the math library, it would seem to me that after years
of "tweaking", there just isn't that much that would be useful to
add.  Perhaps our Ada reuse people will translate the math library,
but for now, they are collecting plenty of code from other sources.

-------------------------------------------------
Brad Wallet                 Mathematician
bwallet@see.nswc.navy.mil   Naval Surface Warfare Center
(703)663-4950               (AVN)249-4950
DSMAC - "Tomahawk's Eyes"
"I can neither confirm nor deny that these opinions
are entirely my own and may or may not reflect those
of the US Navy."