re: New Ada Educational Prices

re: New Ada Educational Prices

[Richard Pattis]

These prices include the toolset (debugger, etc.)

The 386 DOS version is 239.99/The 386 UNIX version is 314.99


-- 
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  Richard E. Pattis			"Programming languages are like
  Department of Computer Science	 pizzas - they come in only "too"
    and Engineering			 sizes: too big and too small."

Re: New Ada Educational Prices

[aunro!alberta!ubc-cs!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm]

pattis@cs.washington.edu (Richard Pattis) writes:
>These prices include the toolset (debugger, etc.)
>
>The 386 DOS version is 239.99/The 386 UNIX version is 314.99

We've lost the reference to whose product, but nevertheless...these things
need to be put in perspective, since I suspect $240 and $315 seem pretty
cheap to the folks here.  $240 is...what...6x the price of all of DOS?
It's getting a lot closer, although it's still too high by at least a
factor of two--that is, assuming you're trying to draw people to Ada rather
than assuming they're already drawn to it.  (The issue is whether the price
can afford to be a slight barrier _vs_ needing to be a slight draw.)

In a similar vein, the UNIX price is 40% of the price of a basic 386 UNIX
OS.  That's a lot, because you get a lot of software with UNIX.

Or you can think of it in terms of hardware cost--typical 386 systems which
might use this stuff are going to be $1500-2000 complete at the low end,
and in this world two or three hundred bucks is a lot.  It's a lesson which
the 386 UNIX world failed to grasp for quite a few years, and still hasn't
quite tuned in: expensive software will never make more than a tiny niche
market.
-- 
Dick Dunn    rcd@raven.eklektix.com   -or-   raven!rcd
	...Simpler is better.

Re: New Ada Educational Prices

[Jeffrey M. Schweiger]

With respect to educational prices on Ada compilers, I was under the
impression that Alsys has now come up with an educational price of $149 for
FirstAda (not a reduced capability student version) for MS-DOS.  I was
not present at the announcement, but was told that it was made at TRI-Ada.

Also Meridian's educational pricing for both the 640K version of their
MS-DOS OpenAda and for OpenAda Mac is $149.  The OpenAdaDOS to OpenAda 386
upgrade is on special at $349, also.

I believe that a Janus Ada version (R. R. Software) can also be had for
under $150.

I would not expect that these prices would get much lower.

Jeff Schweiger

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Jeff Schweiger	      Standard Disclaimer   	CompuServe:  74236,1645
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Re: New Ada Educational Prices

[John Doner]

In article <34516@as0c.sei.cmu.edu> ae@sei.cmu.edu (Arthur Evans) writes:
>mfeldman@milton.u.washington.edu (Michael Feldman) comments about Alsys
>and Meridian compilers for the Mac.
>
>I have both, and both came with MPW V3.1.  Be aware that System 7 on the
>Mac requires V3.2 of MPW; word is that you can get it from Meridian for
>$25.  (It's $50 from APDA.)

One need only request MPW 3.2 when ordering from Meridian, but you do
have to ask.  There's no extra charge (although there might be if you
first get 3.1 and THEN ask for 3.2).

>Experimental evidence suggests that Meridian Ada works under System 7
>and Alsys Ada does not.  More data are desired, and I hope others will
>post experiences here.

Meridian works fine for me under System 7.

>Although both companies claim they plan to continue to support these
>products, both have told me they have no plans to support the new System
>7 OS calls.

Too bad, I don't understand the lack of enthusiasm for updating their
interface files.  But how much trouble would this be, anyway?  Could
it be undertaken as a cooperative project by users?

John Doner	doner@aero.org