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=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,HK_SCAM,INVALID_MSGID
	autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: 103376,9923b1c3be80099b
X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public
X-Google-Thread: fdb77,9923b1c3be80099b
X-Google-Attributes: gidfdb77,public
From: kilgallen@eisner.decus.org (Larry Kilgallen)
Subject: Re: Ada and Mac (Was: New version of AppletMagic)
Date: 1996/10/09
Message-ID: <1996Oct9.122738.1@eisner>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 188282230
x-nntp-posting-host: eisner.decus.org
references: <53dnlp$bq7@news.syspac.com> <53g342INNks2@maz4.sma.ch>
x-nntp-posting-user: KILGALLEN
x-trace: 844878462/2178
organization: LJK Software
newsgroups: comp.lang.java.advocacy,comp.lang.ada
Date: 1996-10-09T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


In article <53g342INNks2@maz4.sma.ch>, lga@unconfigured.xvnews.domain (Laurent Gasser) writes:

> Having a GNAT delivering PowerMac stand-alone applications is what counts.  To me 
> and certainly to a couple of others.  

I understand that your needs may differ from mine...

> I am willing to contribute and pay for further devlopments of GNAT though.
> But today, the offer looks strange:
> 
>   You can download GNAT (essentially at null cost)
>   to make it run in a shell (which costs $700).
>   
> Compare this with commercial offers of compilers: Metrowerks offers for $400
> a subscription for three releases to C/C++, Pascal, Java for Mac 68K and PPC, 
> and Windows, with CodeWarrior IDE and MPW.
> 
> That's why I am waiting for a "stripped down" MachTen environment.  The product
> MachTen as it is now deserve its price.  The usage I plan to make of it 
> (programming shell for GNAT) does not.

...while I wait for something not limited to PowerMac and don't care
so much about the price. This fragmentation of the market is
what makes pervasive availability of Ada compilers an unattractive
business proposition.  Unfortunately, I fear that if there were
many new vendors entering the space they might all want to do a
Microsoft Windows version.  Thus I fear there is no hidden rule
of economics which naturally gravitates toward my wish of good
supported Ada compilers everywhere.

While Ada may alter our environment when it comes to compiling
and debugging, it has not changed the economics of acquiring
software tools.

Larry Kilgallen