From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: fdb77,5f529c91be2ac930 X-Google-Attributes: gidfdb77,public X-Google-Thread: 11232c,59ec73856b699922 X-Google-Attributes: gid11232c,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,583275b6950bf4e6 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1108a1,59ec73856b699922 X-Google-Attributes: gid1108a1,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-05-09 06:18:45 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: softeng3456@netscape.net (soft-eng) Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.advocacy,comp.object,comp.lang.ada,misc.misc Subject: Re: Using Ada for device drivers? (Was: the Ada mandate, and why it collapsed and died) Date: 9 May 2003 06:18:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Message-ID: <9fa75d42.0305090518.513731f4@posting.google.com> References: <9fa75d42.0304230424.10612b1a@posting.google.com> <82347202.0305021418.4719da45@posting.google.com> <9fa75d42.0305060521.400f1d80@posting.google.com> <82347202.0305061103.2ddd98e4@posting.google.com> <9fa75d42.0305070504.6866e7a3@posting.google.com> <9fa75d42.0305070929.2d7a0d4c@posting.google.com> <9fa75d42.0305081222.623e0b31@posting.google.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 32.97.239.17 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1052486324 16076 127.0.0.1 (9 May 2003 13:18:44 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 9 May 2003 13:18:44 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.java.advocacy:63388 comp.object:63083 comp.lang.ada:37100 misc.misc:14036 Date: 2003-05-09T13:18:44+00:00 List-Id: Tom Welsh wrote in message news:... > In article <9fa75d42.0305081222.623e0b31@posting.google.com>, soft-eng > writes > > > >Free compilers for other languages were available, too. > >And Unix was never the only OS around (in its range), there > >were OS's from DEC, DG etc. Many of these were > >popular at unis. And I could be mistaken, but I > >thought even Unix had an "f77" compiler included in > >the distribution, there was no need to buy it separately. > > I can confirm that, when I was working at DEC in the 1980s, we saw Unix > first of all as a nuisance, then a threat, and finally as a scourge. The > reason was its low cost. > But there was the Ultrix group at DEC -- and DEC should have been the least concerned of all companies about Unix. That's because BSD was developed on Vax machines, and people using Unix bought Vax machines to run it on. So Unix was free, but people bought Vax hardware from DEC so they could throw away VMS and run Unix on it! That changed as Sun started becoming popular, though, which might have been when your problems with Unix must have gotten really serious!