Re: A few questions on Ada and Ada implementations

[Ludovic Brenta <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org>]

Kulin Remailer writes:
> I write software for a living but I am interested in Ada for personal
> use. [...] I don't have any business (with Ada) and I don't know how
> far I'll take it. But I do know I don't want to get started with
> GPL-anything or dual-anything and then get stuck with all kinds of
> legal mumbo jumbo or have to ship a product with all kinds of prereqs
> on stuff out of my control. [...] In the business I work in things are
> very expensive and I also could not have gotten started on my
> own. Only because I work for big companies do I have access to the
> resources. Maybe Ada for professional use is the same way- can't get
> started until you get started!

I also write software for a living; the organization where I work is a
customer of AdaCore.  I use GNAT Pro and GtkAda, delivered to us under a
license that permits redistribution in binary-only form.  Since we do
not distribute our software, we don't care about that.  What we really
pay for is the support.

However, most of my postings on this newsgroup are done in my hobbyist
capacity.  I use GCC (the library of which BTW is "unencumbered") at
home.  The only reason why I distribute my software is to enhance my
reputation as a software engineer; therefore I insist that my beautiful
source code be visible to all :) That's why the GPL is a perfect choice
for me.

So, I do not really buy your justification that you need "unencumbered"
licenses at home because "in the business [you] work in", libraries are
unencumbered.  Are yo sure you're really a hobbyist and not a commercial
entity exploring ways to reduce your development costs compared to other
languages?  Both are perfecly OK but the priorities are different.

> [...] Again, I'm asking about a complete, unencumbered solution for 64
> bit Linux, and it would be nice if it could generate code for Windows
> as well, but not essential. I want to be able to write and debug code,
> have a capable GUI, and have a good database all in the
> solution. Proprietary GUI and database are goodness in my view. If
> such a thing exists I guess it's not cheap! If pricing info (and more
> details about what exactly is included, in non-jargon) were more
> available on various sites I guess we could have saved some time
> here. Thanks for everybody's responses and sorry if I have wasted your
> time.

I'm sorry to say that, TTBOMK, what you seek does not exist yet.
Several subsets of what you want do exist, however.  I think you should
investigate the various vendor offerings and decide base on what you're
willing to forego.

> Because of my posting setup many times messages get lost or delayed. I am
> sending this more than once since it didn't get posted the last few times.

Do you use a proprietary newsreader? (sorry, couldn't resist).

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.