Re: employment with ada

[Jeffrey Carter <spam@spam.com>]

Richard Riehle wrote:
> Jeffrey Carter wrote:
> 
>>Richard Riehle wrote:
>>
>>>... It [using a subset of C] will cost them more in the long run ...
>>
>>Here we probably see the real business case. The longer and more
>>expensive the software is, the more profit the company makes, under
>>typical large defense software contracts.
> 
> I would be the last person to attribute such nefarious motives to a
> company as respectable as LMCO.   My guess is that those who
> made the decision to abandon Ada did so  with the best of intentions,
> with intellectual honesty, and with honorable expectations.   I know
> many of the LMCO software engineers and respect their business
> ethics.   This does not change the fact that I believe they came to
> a wrong conclusion regarding Ada.
> 
> Also, and very important, I believe that they will strive to do the
> very best software they can using the tools they have selected.  We
> can disagree about conclusions without casting doubts about someone's
> honor.

I have seen too many large defense contracts in the US, with a number of 
large defense contractors, in which everything is done to make the SW as 
expensive as possible, and efforts to make the SW less expensive are not 
allowed to succeed, to attribute it to anything other than a well 
developed ability by these companies to find the saddle point between 
maximizing profit and not antagonizing the customer too much.

These companies ARE in business to make money, and the quality of the 
product is only of importance as it affects their profit. It can only be 
because the customer does not know any better that this conduct is 
allowed to continue.

It may be that those who reached the decision to use C had the best of 
intentions and believe they made the correct choice, but given the level 
of FUD in their presentation I have my doubts (NO universities in the US 
teaching Ada?). I suspect that if the study had been seen going in the 
direction of recommending the use of Ada pressure would have been 
brought to reach a different conclusion.

I'm sorry that I cannot be as optimistic about this as you, but 
experience has made me cynical.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time."
Monty Python & the Holy Grail