Why it was a bad idea to drop The Mandate.

["Marin David Condic, 561.796.8997, M/S 731-96" <condicma@PWFL.COM>]

Joe Gwinn <gwinn@RES.RAY.COM> writes WRT Re: fixed point vs floating point
>And, I really don't see why it's necessary to deny the failings of
>compilers that have been obsolete for at least a decade, for a now
>superceeded language.  Surely we can find something more current and
>relevant to worry about, to argue about.
>
    Now y'all know that Emmett Paige, et alia all stood up at the last
    TriAda and said "No!No!No!No!No!No! Just because we dropped The
    Mandate doesn't mean we're abandoning Ada!" One can argue forever
    about the rationality of imposing The Mandate in the first place.
    Once it was there, dropping it created *exactly* the perceptions
    Mr Gwinn and *numerous* others have expressed:

    "for a now superceeded (sic) language"

    Everybody in the trenches "knows" that Ada has been abandoned,
    that the DoD doesn't want to have anything to do with it anymore,
    that *all* Defense software is now going to be written in C++,
    that the Earth is flat and that next week Microsoft will be
    announcing its new angle-trisecting software.

    Will this perception *ever* change? Its sad to think that for all
    the merits of the language, Ada has down through its history
    suffered from problems of *perception* and not of reality. (Short
    of the reality that it can't overcome perception and achieve
    widespread acceptance.) The unfortunate thing is that creating and
    believing the incorrect perceptions has the exact impact of
    creating the corresponding reality.

    Is there any hope of correcting the misperceptions? Is the only
    way to do this to get the govt to spend a billion or so on a
    Madison Avenue styled advertising campaign? Or talk Microsoft or
    Sun into doing this for them? I'm beginning to believe that the
    only way to pull the fat out of the fire is with a massive ad
    campaign like the "Intel Inside" or ADM campaigns to get CEO's,
    Presidents, Managers and the general public to become "Ada Aware".
    Maybe we get some Hollywood types to wear little green ribbons at
    award ceremonies? The problem is identifying the stakeholder. Who
    has enough of a vested interest in Ada to be willing to spend that
    kind of money to protect the investment?

    I wish I knew what to do at this stage to help promote the
    language and correct the erroneous perceptions and preconceived
    notions that seem to have haunted Ada from the beginning. We've
    got a big investment in Ada technology and I'd hate to be forced
    to scrap this in favor of some inferior language simply because of
    a lack of "critical mass" necessary to sustain things the way they
    are.

    MDC
Marin David Condic, Senior Computer Engineer     Voice:     561.796.8997
Pratt & Whitney GESP, M/S 731-96, P.O.B. 109600  Fax:       561.796.4669
West Palm Beach, FL, 33410-9600                  Internet:  CONDICMA@PWFL.COM
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