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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,8623fab5750cd6aa X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public Path: g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!news.glorb.com!wn14feed!worldnet.att.net!63.223.4.70!c01.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net.POSTED!d9c68f36!not-for-mail Message-ID: <40C9EC3B.60304@noplace.com> From: Marin David Condic User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0 (OEM-HPQ-PRS1C03) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Improving Ada's image - Was: 7E7 Flight Controls Electronics References: <40b9c99e$0$268$edfadb0f@dread16.news.tele.dk> <40ba315a$0$254$edfadb0f@dread16.news.tele.dk> <04udnR-eHNChzSbdRVn-vw@gbronline.com> <7J0xc.7371$8k4.269106@news20.bellglobal.com> <1086630278.542788@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <8xlxc.27603$sS2.845496@news20.bellglobal.com> <1086715817.122983@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <1086733411.736049@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <3Auxc.11998$XY6.1296622@read2.cgocable.net> <40C85035.4020706@noplace.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 17:31:06 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.165.4.140 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net 1086975066 209.165.4.140 (Fri, 11 Jun 2004 10:31:06 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 10:31:06 PDT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:1397 Date: 2004-06-11T17:31:06+00:00 List-Id: That makes the possibly unwarranted assumptions that a) the original program is just inherently insecure because it was written in C/C++ and b) that implementation in Ada guarantees security. Neither assumption is of necessity true. If the original program is insecure and inherently so, that is probably a reflection of my first condition: "The existing implementation is so bad that it can only really be fixed by tossing it out and starting again" But you *can* write a perfectly secure, reliable system in languages other than Ada. Maybe (maybe!) it requires more work, but it *can* be done. So unless the original system has some obvious weaknesses you intend to fix, what is the value of doing it in Ada? (Other than possibly as a hobby or just because you get a thrill out of knowing that your personal implementation is in Ada. To the bulk of the real-world users, it doesn't matter that the underlying implementation is in Ada so long as it works.) If the original implementation is rewritten in Ada, that is also an opportunity to introduce all sorts of *new* bugs and security leaks. Just because its done in Ada doesn't mean the designers/implementors are going to automatically get it right and not leave any holes to exploit. Possibly, you eliminate one particular type of threat or another, but bad implementations in Ada are possible. New implementations are usually far weaker than legacy systems that have had the opportunity to be beaten about a good deal. So I don't see a compelling reason to go rewrite existing apps in Ada just so that they can be in Ada. Now if someone can say "Let's take System X as a baseline but do it differently and add some new and amazing capabilities that will make a new app that is far more useful..." then you've got something worth discussing. MDC Warren W. Gay VE3WWG wrote: > > You missed another good reason: c) improved security. Any daemon or process > that interfaces with the wild wooly world out there, should be very > secure (perfectly secure if theoretically possible). I think Ada can > add some real value in this particular area, to the many "services" > currently written in C/C++. -- ====================================================================== Marin David Condic I work for: http://www.belcan.com/ My project is: http://www.jsf.mil/NSFrames.htm Send Replies To: m o d c @ a m o g c n i c . r "Face it ladies, its not the dress that makes you look fat. Its the FAT that makes you look fat." -- Al Bundy ======================================================================