Re: GNAT GPL is not shareware

[David Botton <david@botton.com>]

> Out of curiosity, am I correct in understanding that we have the GPL one
> available at all only because of contractual requirements negotiated by
> the DoD?

We are not really discussing the availability of gnat as GPL but a specific build of gnat that is released by Ada core called "GNAT-GPL" and the importance of making sure the community _not_ imply that this is a "community edition" or otherwise allow people to get scare off from Ada as being unusable for proprietary and commercial projects if they are not deep pocket systems projects.

> If so, does it actually satisfy their intent? I wondered if
> there is some other niche for it that they had in mind.

My understanding is they wanted to promote Ada 95 its use and prevent stumbling blocks for wider acceptance.

AdaCore is not in violation of anything and are with in their rights to "convert" the run-time to full GPL to benefit their corporate interests even if at the expense of the Ada advocacy beyond their niche.

As a community interested in Ada advocacy there is no idea here about "stopping" AdaCore or even "changing" their minds, there is though the need to fill in the massive gap left between the shareware/demo/trial/viral GPL edition and the commercial PRO support package. A need for a "PRO Community" edition = the FSF distros.

So what there needs to be is an effort to:

1. Insure that the viral GPL edition is not misrepresented as a community edition.
2. That we improve the image, packaging and tools around the community edition.

GetAdaNow.com is a start in pushing the available community editions. This year time to start making the community edition look sharp and flashy and attractive to pro users.

My invitation to advertise and market AdaCore as part of that Ada advocacy effort in exchange for regular publishing a public version that is not viral still stands if they ever change their minds in the future. (I was never "asking" AdaCore for something, I was and am offering something ;)

My interests are constructive and I am happy that AdaCore will still gain customers even if not directly marketed by a strong community edition.

David Botton