Future of Ada volunteer efforts

[David Botton <david@botton.com>]

I thank you for the kind words the mean a lot to me.

There are things though the Ada community should have been doing and 
could be doing to make volunteer efforts and the Ada community as a 
whole more apealing, inspiring and vibrant. (perhaps this should be on 
the SigAda TEAM-ADA list instead of here, but any ways)

While I did do (no one ever closed any doors even if I haven't done 
anything for some time, so I guess in a sense "do") some consulting 
work in the Ada world for ACT my billing habits (or lack of billing) 
with them will confirm that I never did Ada work "for the money". 
Neither do most of the Ada folks that frequent/frequented C.L.A or 
create open source projects (even if it is their source of "money"). 
There is something else that makes most of us  "tick" and it is 
emotional not rational.

The problem with that is that to cultivate it requires a sensativity 
that frequently has been lacking amongst us for both good and bad.

The good is that those that hold on are the cream of the crop, some of 
the best minds in software I've met are/were here on CLA, other lists, 
or at the SigAda conference I spoke at some time ago.

The bad is that lack of sensativity leads to outside people "seeing" 
Ada as a bunch of has beens that are stroking each others egos for what 
they once did with no future path to recognition and inclusion. That 
doesn't mean to say that it is the case, but that the perception is 
that people that are active in a public way on the net for Ada are not 
in the limelight. The result is a public perception problem for those 
outside of the old circles.

If SigAda conferences included things like public recognition for the 
latest new inovcations, a $10 plaque for people making efforts in the 
past year not many years before, it would be a start... A student 
learning Ada in school that participated in a public project that then 
got recognition at a conference... now that is better than gold.

If a young programmer thought that one day he could be honored by the 
old guard it goes a long way to getting volunteer efforts and Ada 
vibrant on the net.

I know that the kinds words from Tucker Taft and a hand shake from him 
after my presentation meant a huge amount to me, but the lack of 
recognition of AdaPower or any one elses volunteer projects from a 
lecturn or in any other way by others also meant something.

I know that I am an egostical self serving fool who failed to get his 
foot in the door enough to stay in and whose inabilities to find time 
to contribute as a result will eventually disapear, but my perceptions 
may come in handy even if damning to myself to perhaps turn something 
like SigAda, CLA and the Ada community in to an organization that is 
recruiting the up and coming "youth" of the industry in to Ada instead 
of just touting the rational strengths of the language that most people 
in the public don't even care about.

Of course, if Robert Dewar was still on CLA he would likely argue that 
this angle is not important and in many ways I know he is correct, but 
my gut still tells me otherwise.

David Botton



On 2004-10-02 03:13:25 -0400, tmoran@acm.org said:

>>> By the way, did somebody already try to contact David Botton on this
>>> issue?
>> I have tried to reach him; I get no responses to my e-mail messages;
>> he is apparently not making any attempt to read his e-mail.
>   The newest files on www.adapower.com appear to be dated a year ago.
> I think David should be greatly thanked for all the work he did.  It
> is unreasonable to expect anyone to continue donating substantial time
> to the Ada community for nothing forever.