Re: GNAT 3.03 for OS/2

[tojst1+@pitt.edu (Tore Joergensen)]

Robert Dewar (dewar@cs.nyu.edu) wrote:
:   Not tough at all. If IBM gets in touch with us as they promised to do,
:   we will be glad to cooperate with them. We are not "holding off" on
:   the OS/2 releases, it is just that the OS/2 release is highly non-standard,
:   requires a lot of special fiddling each time, and is rather low on the
:   priority list, so it takes a while to get around to it. We are hoping
:   to get a 3.04 out in the forseeable future, but we can't promise anything.
:   Please don't assume that we are deliberately holding back OS/2 releases,
:   far from it! Since I use no other version, I would certainly be as happy
:   as anyone to have my version properly sychronized with the official release.

I am happy for the free compiler I get. I would not be suprised if the number
of paying customers are below ten (I wouldn't even be suprised if it is zero).
It is quite obvious that the OS/2 port require more fiddling than Unix ports
(even emx can't change that). 

: I'm a non-paying customer of ACT and I must admit I'm unable to
: effectively do anything more except complain in order to get GNAT into
: the hands of OS/2 developers.

:   Actually, you could perfectly well take on the packaging up of new releases
:   if you want to, no one has a monopoly on this. Many of the unsupported ports
:   are maintained by volunteers for that matter. You could also send the stuff
:   off to IBM for that matter. 

There are lots of things to do, even if you don't want to get directly
involved in GNAT. To make GNAT attractive to proffesional developers, we
need libraries! I think the thin bindings are starting to become complete
now, but we need high-level libraries as well. A nicer developer environment
wouldn't hurt either. If you are working or plan to start working on anything
that have something to do with Ada on OS/2, feel free to write to me. I might
have information that can be useful. If you have suggestions for my 'Ada for
OS/2' page (http://www.pitt.edu/~tojst1/adaos2), please e-mail me about that
too. It's still just a puppy, but I think it will start growing into a more
useful resource soon. 
-- 
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| Tore B. Joergensen      | e-mail : tore@lis.pitt.edu                |
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