Ada for MacOS/BeOS

Ada for MacOS/BeOS

[N DAVIES]

Hi,
	I'm looking for an ada (83 or 95 but pref 95) compiler for MacOS or 
	BeOS.  I haven't got a 604 processor so I can't run machten, therefore
	i'll need a compiler that runs in MacOS or BeOS.

		Thanks in advance

			Nick Davies.

--
    ************************************
                Nick Davies
             2nd Year Comp.Sci
	
      e-mail : ndavies@comp.brad.ac.uk
    ************************************

Re: Ada for MacOS/BeOS

[Michele Zundo]

N DAVIES wrote:

> Hi,
>         I'm looking for an ada (83 or 95 but pref 95) compiler for MacOS or
>         BeOS.  I haven't got a 604 processor so I can't run machten, therefore
>         i'll need a compiler that runs in MacOS or BeOS.
>

I do not think  you need a 604 for MachTen, any PPCwill do. (older version of
Machten used to run even on 68xxx).
Anyway you do need a big amount of memory (48 Mb) to
run the GNAT on Machten  and  it might be expensive
for a student.

You should try to get the MPW based MeridianOpenAda
which is quite old discontinued, but is nevertheless fully
validated Ada83 Compiler. It support taskings and generics
and it's definitively good value for money (it used to
cost more than 1000$ when first come out in the 80's)

MeridianOpenAda compiler is on 10 FD (including MPW)
and came with manual and even libraries to create
MacOS applications (MacintoshEnviroment Lib)
It was produced by Meridian then bought by Verdix/Rational.
You could get it _VERY_ cheap from DH-Heath (Raytheon)
which sells to edu. (around 40 $)

However I just discovered that DC-Heath has been sold to
  http://www.hmco.com/ (Houghton Mifflin Companies)
and I could not get any info about this product
on their site so , since you are the second person this week
looking for it, I e-mailed for info. I'll let you know if I
get any info.

DC-Heath used to have a subsidiary in UK as well but
I do not have the phone.

Maybe you could  get the exact reference from the ADA FAQ.


Cheers

Michele

PS
I just realised that another solution would be to install MkLinux
on you PowerMac and GNAT then.

--

---------------------------------------------------
CRI (Computer Resources International) GmbH
HahnStrasse 70         Phone:  +49-(0)69-669-00852
D-60258                Fax:    +49-(0)69-666-8329
Frankfurt              e-mail: mzu@de.cri.dk

Re: Ada for MacOS/BeOS

[Dale Stanbrough]

"However I just discovered that DC-Heath has been sold to
   http://www.hmco.com/ (Houghton Mifflin Companies)
 and I could not get any info about this product
 on their site so , since you are the second person this week
 looking for it, I e-mailed for info. I'll let you know if I
 get any info.
 
 DC-Heath used to have a subsidiary in UK as well but
 I do not have the phone."


I always thought it would be nice if Meridian Ada was made 
public domain/GNU'ed. It's a nice little compiler and with
a bit of work may be able to do some extra useful ada95 things.
(e.g. modular types, out mode parameters, function pointers).

Re: Ada for MacOS/BeOS

[Robert Dewar]

Dale said

<<I always thought it would be nice if Meridian Ada was made
public domain/GNU'ed. It's a nice little compiler and with
a bit of work may be able to do some extra useful ada95 things.
(e.g. modular types, out mode parameters, function pointers).
>>

First, just a standard note for new readers :-)
I don't know what GNU'ed means, most likely it is a misprint for GPL'ed.
GNU is the name of an operating system, and even in the most generous
interpretation of the allowance of verbizing in English, I cannot see
how GNU can be a verb.

Assuming that indeed GPL'ed was intended, it is important to emphasize that
GPL'ed software is NOT public domain. On the contrary it is fully copyrighted,
and typically the copyright holder will strenuously enforce their rights
under the copyright law to fully control the use of their intellectual
property. Yes, the GPL means that the holder will license very broad use,
but under the law, and in practice, no intellectual property rights are
being ceded here. By comparison, putting something in the public domain
explicitly gives up all IPR's.

As for putting Meridian Ada in the public domain or GPL'ing it and releasing
the sources, probably neither is practical. First the parties involved would
have to decide that there was no remaining value in the compiler as property
(a decision made less likely by the judgment of an expert member of the
Ada community that this is a "nice little compiler" which "may  be able
to do .. useful .. things". Second everyone would have to agree to the
change in status. This would cost time and effort with lawyers etc (I 
would be very surprised for example if the transfer of the ownership
to this product was not very restrictive, and indeed it would not be
surprising to find that Heath did not have the sources). I can't see
anyone spending this time for no gain.

This general phenomenon explains why many old software packges remain
locked up in a proprietary strait-jacket. All in all, it is best if you
want freely distributable software to start out that way :-)

Robert Dewar
Ada Core Technologies

P.S. I don't think that the 48 megs of memory you say is needed is much of
a barrier any more. Insight this week is selling 32 meg EDO memory modules
for less than $80. That's not much more than the cost of a textbook, and
definitely in range of typical students (actually I am pretty amazed by
the nice hardware that my students have).

Re: Ada for MacOS/BeOS

[Richard Kenner]

In article <dewar.881885975@merv> dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) writes:
>I don't know what GNU'ed means, most likely it is a misprint for GPL'ed.
>GNU is the name of an operating system, and even in the most generous
>interpretation of the allowance of verbizing in English, I cannot see
>how GNU can be a verb.

At the risk of being even more pedantic, it's actually worse than that.
As a noun, GNU can refer to either an operating or a *project*.  The
resulting confusion can be so great that I avoid using GNU as a noun
at all, and use it just as an adjective to qualify what it is that
I'm talking about and encourage everybody else to do likewise.