Re: New user and dumb questions ....

[ads.com!saturn!bhanafee@decwrl.dec.com (Brian Hanafee)]

No, there is not a FAQ for this newsgroup.  There are, however, two
ftp sites which may be of interest.  The first is ajpo.sei.cmu.edu,
which is the Ada Joint Program Office, Software Engineering Institute,
Carnegie-Mellon University.  (Actually, I have heard that CMU is not
directly affiliated with SEI, but they are close.  Maybe somebody else
could clarify this.)  That site has the Ada LRM as well as lots of
other interesting Ada info.  The second is wsmr-simtel20.army.mil,
which is the Ada Software Repository, kept at White Sands Missile
Range (I don't know why).  This site is a pain to use (TOPS20), but it
has a very large selection of PD Ada programs and components.  You
might also send a request to Ada-SW-Request@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil to
get on the Ada-SW digest mailing list.  The contents of this list are
different from this newsgroup.  Finally, you should call the Ada
Information Clearinghouse to get on their mailing list.  This last
mailing list is real, US Postal mail.  Their number is 1-800-Ada-ic11.
Ask for their Ada information packet and a subscription to their
newsletter.  Both are free.

No, there are no PD/Shareware Ada compilers.  There are one or two
which implement "Pascal subsets" of Ada.  None are intended for
anything other than educational uses.  The cheapest way to get a fully
functional, validated Ada compiler is through Meridian Software
Systems.  They offer Ada compilers for both MS-DOS and MacOs.  The
last I heard, the educational price for them was $149 each.
1-800-221-2522.  You can get a list of all validated Ada compilers
from the ajpo.sei.cmu.edu ftp site.


Disclaimer:  I am not affiliated with any of the above organizations
except as a user or customer.  I speak only for myself and, in
particular, I do not speak for my employer.
--
Brian Hanafee                         Advanced Decision Systems
bhanafee@ads.com                      1500 Plymouth Street
(415) 960-7300                        Mountain View, CA 94043-1230