Re: Ada saved by gnat (was Re: Where's Aetech?)

[dweller@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (David Weller)]

In article <3mjccv$gts@news.znet.com>, Jim Dorman  <jimd@pcada.com> wrote:
>
>Well, What do you think???? I think theere is a lot of ttruth to it.
>...
>multiple vendors, including some of my own, but I have never seen
>positive comments about commercial Ada products that did have a large
>dose of criticism included. Obviously, everything could be improved!
>...
>  If you don't like it, tell me
>  If you do like it, tell the world
>

Jim, I'm going to have to disagree with you here.  First, I think
that you lengthy post is laced with the same ignorance we see from
other "real-world" businessmen, namely that a "free" compiler
obviously isn't worth it's salt, and is unfairly taking business away
from the commercial markets.  There is an enormously thriving
business with the gcc compiler (yes, even being used in some of those
"life critical" apps, etc.), _because_ it is a good compiler.  How
many businesses went under because of gcc? (None that I recall)  How
damaged is the C/C++ compiler market because of gcc?  I haven't noticed
any problems.  

GNAT, thank God, has raised the standard of quality for Ada
compilers.  I'm not saying GNAT is _better_ than any compiler on the
market today, but that we have some "breathing room".  

As for complaints...well, I DEFINITELY see more complaints about GNAT
on here than any other compiler.  And as for the "If the compiler is
broken, only tell me, but if it works great, we'd like you to be a
free spokesperson for our company", I'll pass.  If I like a product,
I'll say it, if I don't like a product, and it's worth mentioning on
comp.lang.ada, I'll mention that too.  If you think commercial Ada
products take a blistering here, I'm telling you right now this is
child's play compared to some of the stuff flying on comp.lang.c++.
Public criticism (or praise) should not be silenced.  If it's an
unfair critique, kindly correct the poster.  For instance, it's quite
possible I misinterpreted some of your comments -- it was a lengthy
post and I might have missed some context.  If that's the case,
publicly correct me (and if I have, let me apologize right now.  We
are both in the _business_ of promoting Ada, so my intent isn't to
drastically piss you off :-)  

Finally, let me say that I have watched the presence of GNAT
dramatically increase exploration of Ada within the last year.  I
can't begin to tell you the _thousands_ of "fingers" I've had over
the last year (hmm, I guess I just did :-).  Many of those people
have picked up GNAT and were able to explore Ada without the
slightest financial committment.  And, yes, they knew they were
getting what they were paying for :-)  Also, GNAT has given me
leverage personally to address the issue of compiler cost overall.  I
am currently faced with a bill exceeding $200K from one of the
"major" compiler vendors.  Because a computer company has committed
to the GNAT compiler, I'm able to use that as leverage to reduce the
overall unit price of my current vendor.  Will that put them out of
business?  Definitely not.  Is this an example of how a "free"
government-funded compiler is hurting the Ada business?  It depends
on how you look at it.  I don't think so.  One of the amazing things
GNAT has done is made Ada "just another programming language".  That
is totally counter to how we positioned Ada in the 80's.  Frankly, I
like what GNAT is doing to the business.  Yes, you as an Ada business
will have to either adapt or leave.  I don't see anything wrong with
that, I already know of two "non-Ada" companies that are seriously
considering _entering_ the market now because of what GNAT has done.  I
continue to see GNAT as a postive force in our community.  

-- 
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	  For all sorts of interesting Ada95 tidbits, run the command:
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		if u cn rd ths, u r gd enuf to chg to Ada   :-)