From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,630c12e823d1bdf4 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-01-15 09:34:09 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!canoe.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!wn14feed!wn12feed!worldnet.att.net!207.217.77.102!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!harp.news.atl.earthlink.net!not-for-mail From: Richard Riehle Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada Compiler Pricing (was Re: Hijacking a Thread was RE: New Ada compiler for .NET) Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 09:43:09 -0800 Organization: AdaWorks Software Engineering Message-ID: <3E259DAD.7B21B061@adaworks.com> References: <1040653133.613605@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <3e18f3f3_1@news.tm.net.my> <6KwmrO7CZtnj@eisner.encompasserve.org> <1041910244.361888@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <3E1E5604.5030209@nospam.adrianhoe.com> <3E1EA349.6B97C328@adaworks.com> <3E1F4B6D.A8D5172F@adaworks.com> <49BFB7592CBCCE76.BF5F1FAC531DF3EC.585B6F261FE1D006@lp.airnews.net> Reply-To: richard@adaworks.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 3f.bb.80.24 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Server-Date: 15 Jan 2003 17:34:08 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:33044 Date: 2003-01-15T17:34:08+00:00 List-Id: Marin David Condic wrote: > Of course, there is nothing to stop one from using Ada on a commercial > RTOS - except for possibly finding a compiler that targets the board & the > RTOS - and getting it at a reasonable price - and feeling comfortable that > it will actually work without too many serious bugs I remember the Ada project at Xerox where the team built the embedded system for a copier using Ada, and did not need to buy a separate RTOS. They used the one supplied by the Ada compiler publisher. It was a highly successful project and the team, along with its manager, realized that Ada was a significant improvement over the way they had built such systems before. Xerox executives, with their customary skill at "grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory" (Smalltalk, Windows Operating systems, etc.), decreed that Ada would not be allowed to be used for anymore systems. This decree was made even in the face of compelling success with it. The project manager, in describing the project, remarked on the added value that Ada provided in eliminating the need for purchasing stuff such as VxWorks and related products. Everything they needed was in the Ada. I see this kind of dumb management a lot in DoD contractor companies. Somehow, these corporate level people are so enamoured of the slick and glossy ads they fail to recognize quality when they see it. Xerox has been particularly guilty of this kind of glitz thinking when it comes to computing. They could own the marketplace now, if there had been a well-functioning brain in the excecutive levels of the company during the Seventies and Eighties. Richard Riehle