Re: Ada to Boldly Go... (Was: Status of Ada??)

["Warren W. Gay VE3WWG" <ve3wwg@home.com>]

William Dale wrote:

> Exactly my point at the SGIAda 2000.  Get the "Hobbyists" involved!
> I presented a view of Ham Radio software as a platform for Ada
> development that covers a wide set of domains - logging, digital/packet,
> satellite communications - and many more.

I missed all that excitement (SIGAda) but I am glad to hear of the "plugs".

> Linux is a good platform for much of this and lots of Ham S/W is already
> available.
>
> Look for more on this after the first of the year.

Bravo N2RHV.

73

> N2RHV - EC Milpitas
> http://www.qsl.net/mares
> mailto:n2rhv@arrl.net
>
> "Warren W. Gay VE3WWG" wrote:
> >
> > /dev/null wrote:
> >
> > > In article <k6im2t05ril3fradvsp7uplrv6h7k36coi@4ax.com>,
> > > JM  <jmillard1@homey.remove_y_.com> wrote:
> > >  >
> > >  > Does anyone believe Ada will become more popular in the future?
> > > ...snip...
> > > The most common class of security bugs in software being exploited
> > > today is buffer overflows.  Buffer overflows are very common in
> > > C/C++, uncommon in Ada, Eiffel, etc.
> > >
> > > Eventually one of those holes is going to be exploited in such a
> > > way as to bring down a major bank or stock exchange.  Once a bug
> > > threatens the nation's economy, Congress will act swiftly to track
> > > down and outlaw the causes.  If somebody convinces Congress, say
> > > Peter Neumann of comp.risks fame, that eliminating C/C++ would
> > > solve most buffer overflows, C/C++ will be out the door faster than
> > > you can say C ...SNIP...
> >
> > I don't think that scenario is very likely..   What is needed, is
> > more exposure to Open Source developers in general... i.e. more useful
> > projects for Linux/FreeBSD/whatever
> > that people need/want, written in Ada95. This will:
> >
> > 1. Require that people have the Ada95 (GNAT) _installed_ on their machine
> >     (if they want to compile the project).
> > 2. The GNAT RPM's are making this easier for this to happen, especially
> >     for the non-Ada aware.
> > 3. People will start tinkering with Ada95, when they want to make changes
> >     to the same said project(s)
> > 4. More Linux/FreeBSD distributions will start including Ada95 as a ready
> >     to go option (or included as a standard offering).
> > 5. People will start to see the advantages of Ada95 as they tinker
> > 6. More people get to know the language..
> > 7. You start to see more books on the subject of Ada (giving it more
> >     credibility, and adding to the curiosity factor)
> > 8. More Ada95 projects will follow?
> >
> > If people start contributing solid applications written in Ada95, without the
> > buffer exploits and other risks, then perhaps others will take notice.  Until
> > then, die-hard C/C++/Java fans, will likely stick to what they already know
> > and love.
> >
> > If I was to be bold, I would start by suggesting people do Ada95 re-writes
> > of the many _SERVERS_ that have exploits published for them every week.
> > I hate trusting my host to the wild Internet, knowing about all these
> > exploits sitting there. I plan to contribute in this area myself.
> >
> > --
> > Warren W. Gay VE3WWG
> > http://members.home.net/ve3wwg

--
Warren W. Gay VE3WWG
http://members.home.net/ve3wwg