Why does the DoD hate reuse entrepreneurs ?

[cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!howland. reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!eff!world!srctran@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Gre gory Aharonian)]

    Why does the DoD hate software reuse entrepreneurs?  I mean if the DOD
is going to start the businesses of reuse centers, surely anyone supportive
of capitalism and free markets would want the support of an important driver
of these free markets, entrepreneurs.  That is, if the DoD is serious about
its preaches to others about fighting the N-I-H syndrome.

    Case in point.  An upcoming Ada conferences have a variety of panel
sessions on reuse.  The conference, the Eleventh Annual National Conference
on Ada Technology, is being held next month.  Here's a list of panels and
their speakers:

REUSE:
Domain Specific Software Architectures - Three people from the DoD contractor
	GTE Federal Systems
Domain Engineering - Establishing Large Scale Software Reuse - Two people from
	the DoD contractor Softech
Practical Guide for Ada Reuse - Two people from the government funded
	MountainNet.

DEFENSE SOFTWARE REPOSITORY SYSTEM PANEL - Moderator - a DoD official

REUSE EDUCATION PANEL
Dave Eichman, Charles McKay - academics from the University of Houston
Bob Saisi - DSD Laboratories
Linda Saus - EWA
Frances Van Scoy - academic from West Virginia University

ADASAGE (and I can't believe they are wasting a panel on this)
Joan McGarity - COMNAVCOMTECCOM fragilisticxbladocious
Howard Stewart - DoD/DoE contractor EGG Idaho
David Cuneo - Naval Computer and Telecommunications
Jerry Despasquale - US Marine Corps
Am Hollom - Standards System Center
John Taylor - US Army Software Deveopment Center

SOFTWARE REUSE: THE NEXT STEPS  (should be NEXT CHECKBOOK)
James Hess - Department of the Army
Philip Lancewicz - Harris Corporation
Robert Lencewicz - Headquarters Electronics Systems Center
Donalr Reifer - RCI
Roger Williams - Software Productivity Consortium

DEFENSE SOFTWARE REPOSITORY SYSTEM PANEL
Joanne Piper - DISA/CIM
Marrea Riggs - Army
Patti Hicks - Defense Logistics Agency
Kim Tarver - Air Force/Standard Systems Center
Judith Wilson - Department of Energy

==============================================================================

    There is not a single person or company in the above list spending their
own money on the business of software reuse - not a single entrepreneur.
All these discussion will reduce to "We're doing great at what we should
be doing, and let's spend more tax dollars on something we won't spend our
own money on".
    What's worse is that about ten years ago, the DoD went through a period
of trying to establish software repositories (I think it was an Air Force
effort) before reuse was a fad.  They all failed miserably, yet not once
has anyone of the above interested parties ever cared to lookat their own
history.

    These panels are pointless for two reasons.  First the DoD officials
are never going to say "Here's how to do something for less money than we
have been budgeted by Congress and still get more results".  Doing so is
one of the few reasons you can actually get courtmartialed in the DoD
Second, there is a neurological impairment for many defense contractors
so that when they think "Gee - that is a dumb idea - don't fund it" it
comes out "Gee - that's a great idea, though this is our way to fund
it" (an impairment plaguing the STARS community for one).

    (As a side note to C.L., how about "COMPONENT COST"!!!!)

    Now some of you are saying, gee Greg, what don't you show up at some
of these conferences and enlighten us with your wisdom (a flame I really
miss being flamed with).  Any socialist asking such a question just 
doesn't realize that under current DoD procurement regulations and contractor
attitudes, it is impossible for any entrepreneur to operate a profitable
defense software reuse business.  Thus as a good capitalist, I know that
any money I "invest" in attending these conferences will not lead to enough
business to make my investment profitable.  Instead, like many others
avoiding the entire Ada industry, I make my investments in other areas
such as C/C++.

    There is no better measure of the gross incompetence surrounding DoD
software reuse efforts than the fact that there is no panel session at
either Tri-Ada or the National Conference on Ada Technology titled:


	"WHY ARE THERE NO ENTREPRENEURS FOR DOD SOFTWARE REUSE"



Once again comrades, good day.

Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimization


(P.S. In writing these diatribes, I tend to get carried away and use
too many obscenities such as "competition", "free markets", "capitalism",
"profits", "cost/benefit", "marketing", "investment", "efficiency", etc.
I wish to apologize and promise it won't happen again. Right.)
-- 
**************************************************************************
Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimiztion
P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178