Viewpoint on AJPO funding and budget cuts

[arny@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (arny.b.engelson)]

I just read an article in Government Computer News that really bothered me.
It was a front page article in the Jan 8 issue, entitled "Budget Ax Hangs
Over Ada Funds".  Now, contrary to what you may be thinking, what bothers
me is not so much that Congress is cutting AJPO funding (alright, that
bothers me, but that is not what REALLY bothers me), but what the article
says AJPO is doing with the money they got (or will be getting).

Specifically, out of $11.2 million, $7.87 million is allotted to the ALS/N
effort.  (Note: AJPO director John Solomond does say he has authority to
reallocate some of this funding.)  What bothers me is that such a large
part of the AJPO funding is going to develop a compiler for the Navy.  I
believe the AJPO should be concentrating the bulk of its efforts (and $$$)
on more generally useful jobs, such as several of those Solomond listed
as new plans (metrics standards, style guide, compiler evaluation, and
maintaining a project database), and of course Ada 9X.

It's not that I don't think sponsoring (and learning from) a compiler
development effort is such a bad idea, just that the priority and funding
given to it is too high.  It also seems to me that the language has been
around long enough that the AJPO shouldn't have to put that much emphasis
on specific projects such as ALS/N or pilot projects funded under ATIP
(the Ada Technology Insertion Program, which will possibly be eliminated
entirely by the budget cuts).  It's about time folks got off their duff
and started funding these things themselves, simply because it is the
right way to go and will benefit them in the long run.  Let the AJPO be
a source (repository) of information; manage the Ada standard; and help
people/agencies/companies transition to Ada by providing information and
guidance, not by funding individual efforts.  What do you think?

  -- Arny Engelson   att!wayback!arny   (201)386-4816