Re: Gnat 2.06 Ada95 (unix) File format????

[mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)]

In article <dewar.834880512@schonberg>, Robert Dewar <dewar@cs.nyu.edu> wrote:

>As for the CDROM, I have sent mucho messages to the "bloke who releases
>the CDROMs", and never got an answer! 

Me too. I don't even bother anymore. Any advertiser too sleazy to
answer questions is, IMHO, not worth a second look.

>As I say, I think you do much better
>to get the Walnut Creek CD ROM which is much more up to date -- I have
>no commercial interest in either of these CD ROM's, I *do* have an interest
>in people not getting stuck with obsolete junk when for the same price
>they can get something much better!

I speak here for nobody but myself.:-)

A new edition of the Walnut Creek CD ROM is in production as we speak
and will be out in July. It will contain GNAT 3.05. I too have no
commercial interest in the CD ROM.  I recommend it based
on personal experience with the previous releases, and with the
enthusiasm and dedication of Rick Conn of Monomuth University, who 
administers the PAL and organizes the files for the CD ROM. It is
overall a nice cooperation among many providers, and IMHO is well
worth the $39.95 it costs (for a 2 CD set). Walnut Creek also has
a subscription arrangement. 

That said, I think it's easier to keep up with _GNAT_ by ftp, if you
have ftp access. It is inevitable that by the time a CD ROM is
produced and put in the sales stream, GNAT will at times have moved 
to a newer release. In a sense, your GNAT release on a CD is obsolete
the day you get it. 

GNAT is a damn fine piece of work but is still evolving, so it is
sensible to keep up with the releases, and - given the frequency of 
releases every couple of months or so - this is best done by ftp.

Mike Feldman