Re: Ada 95 for an ARM-based bare board?

[Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen <oleh@vlinux.voxelvision.no>]

"Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com> writes:

> Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen wrote in message
> <7vptwccqfs.fsf@vlinux.voxelvision.no>...
> 
> >And preferably pay up front for the develoment of the compiler....  OK
> >strategy if you sell few expensive development systems, probably not a
> >good strategy to penetrate the mass market.
> 
> 
> The companies that tried to penatrate the mass market with Ada are
> either out of business (Supersoft, Artek, Meridian), have changed
> product lines to move away from the mass market (RR Software), or
> changed business models (Aonix). A lot of people lost a lot of money
> trying to do that, and it has always failed. Here, I have to agree with
> Robert: if you think there is some way to make a viable business out of
> mass market Ada, feel free to take your own money and start a company to
> do it. Otherwise, stop whining.

I'm not in the business of making compilers, and it wasn't whining,
just an observation that from a customers point of view, it has made
sense to seek other solutions. As a customer, I don't really care
about the vendor's motivation for his strategy.  Of course any vendor
is free to pursue his preferred market.

> 
> I've spent 22 years trying to sell Ada to the masses, and primarily all
> I have to show for it is a substantial debt. You can argue that RRS has
> done this or that wrong (and that's probably true), but I dare anyone
> here to do it better on the money we had available. Unless some Ada
> stalwart wins a $100 million Powerball jackpot, I very much doubt that
> will change.
> 
>             Randy Brukardt
>             R.R. Software, Inc.

I do not doubt that it's very difficult to penetrate the mass market
without very deep pockets, and I do not accuse you of having done
anything stupid. It probably is an indication that there is no mass
market appeal in Ada at the moment.