Free Hawaii trip if you buy my Ada products

[world!srctran@uunet.uu.net (Gregory Aharonian)]

    Well, not from me, but how do you tell the difference between a
competitive, free-market industry, and a customer gouging, socialist industry?

    Consider for example, the current marketing wars going on in the C++
community.  Microsoft, Borland, Centerline and Symantec are going all out
to win market share, doing things the Ada compiler vendors will never do.

    For example, Centerline is offering their ObjectCenter and CodeCenter
C++ programming environments on a CDROM for two weeks of free use.  No 
limitations, you can try out their entire product at no cost for two weeks,
at which time an expiration date kicks in.  You can also get it on tape.
Their products use the Unix programming environment.  Contact them at
1-800-NOW-CNTR to get a copy of their programs - if nothing else to compare
their offering with what you get (or don't get ) from Ada vendors.

    Then consider Symantec.  A challenger in the C++ compiler wars (given
Borland's and Microsoft's dominance), if you buy their professional edition
or upgrade from another vendor to their professional edition, (and I assume
buy in some quantity, though maybe not) they will buy you two free round-trip
tickets to Hawaii.

    Meanwhile, Borland and Microsoft are offering compiler environments
with everything in them but the kitchen sink - compilers, linkers, debuggers,
object browsers, reuse libraries, templates, exception handling and source
code analysis tools - integrated very well in their respective environments.
And more than likely Borland and Microsoft will engage in their price wars
to win market share.

    Free use of a product, trips to Hawaii, near-CASE environments for the
price of a PC compiler - this is the sign of a healthy competitive industry
whose products are in demand.  And the Ada compiler vendors - do we see
free limited use of their product, great marketing promotions, large
environments at reasonable prices, and even more simply, just showing up at
non-Mandated shows?  NYET.

    The Ada community - well I hope everyone has a good time at the Tri-Ada
love fest next month.  It's going to absolutely nothing to help promote Ada
outside the Mandated world, do nothing to expose Ada to the managers outside
the Mandated world making their programming language decisions.  Nothing.
Every wonder why at non-Mandated OO,CASE, etc trade shows at best only one
Ada company shows up, while at Tri-Ada there will be over 40?
-- 
**************************************************************************
 Greg Aharonian                                      srctran@world.std.com
 Source Translation & Optimization                            617-489-3727
 P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178