From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.5-pre1 (2020-06-20) on ip-172-31-74-118.ec2.internal X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.0 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_40 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.5-pre1 Date: 27 Apr 93 01:49:48 GMT From: world!srctran@uunet.uu.net (Gregory Aharonian) Subject: Re: Ichbiah's letter to Anderson: Here it is Message-ID: List-Id: > It continually amazes me on the lack of interest by the Mandated >>world to spend any of its own money promoting Ada outside the Mandated >>world. The assumption, I guess, is that everyone outside the Mandated >>world is going to beat the door down to get to Ada9X. > >You will find that as Ada 9X transitions from vaporware to software, >the level of marketing by the Ada 9X project to the >non-mandated, non-government world will increase >dramatically. Most people out there shopping at Object World, >OOPSLA, etc., are looking for a solution that they can test-drive >now, and implement in the next year or so. Until we have some >reasonably robust implementations of Ada 9X that potential >users can get quickly, we are just blowing smoke and potentially >wasting our marketing dollars. This is still an unacceptable response from people troughing tax dollars. As I pointed out in an earlier posting, in four years of the existence of the commercial magazine "Embedded Systems Programming" there was not one ad from Intermetrics concerning Ada, while every month there was one full page ad (sometimes two) publicizing your C products. Thus, Tucker, I do not take seriously anything you say about marketing Ada9X. You (as part of Intermetrics) had your chance with Ada83, a good language for embedded systems programming, and did absolutely nothing. Its a decent language (with or without extensions) for object oriented programming (according to a large amount of public posturing over the years), and you and most others refused to push Ada in your commercial advertising. Waiting for Ada9X is too late, the windows of opportunity will be all shut, as more articles about problems with Ada projects (STANFINS, FAA, RCAS [probably]) hit the press, while glowing stories about Smalltalk and C/C++ are there for contrast. Given that Ada83 is a pretty good language is, there is no excuse for all those in the Mandated world not to be pushing it as much as possible, if nothing else, for the practice of fostering Ada. But I see nothing where it involves spending your own money. Please explain why not once in four years, Intermetrics did not place a single ad mentioning its Ada capabilities in Embedded Systems Programming. Was it embarassment for being associated with Ada? Was it the realization that Ada can't be profitably marketed outside the Mandated world, which does not have captive markets that can be charged exorbitant compiler prices? Was it that Intermetrics management figured that commercial Ada only has a negative return on investment? Not that Intermetrics is alone in this hypocrisy. All I know is that the company with the best record for marketing Ada outside the commercial world, Alsys, through its leader, Jean Ichbiah has expressed the most reservations about the marketability of Ada9X. I question the agenda of any representatives of Intermetrics on the Ada9X effort - the company's prior history makes it suspect in the future success of Ada. In fact, given the past dismal performance of the Mandated world in pushing Ada commercializing, one could cynically propose that some on the Ada9X effort are developing an Ada9X that will keep its installed, captive market effort with improvements that address the limited needs of the Mandated world but provide little in the way of marketing advantages in the non-Mandated world. This way the captive market is kept, allowing the continual charging of compiler prices out of sync with the free markets. "We tried to make a more marketable Ada but people just didn't give us a chance" - I can hear the future moaning and wailing. Fortunately, I am not a cynic, so I won't propose such a viewpoint. Much like IBM has continually refused to include Ada in its commercial product line advertising and marketing, Intermetrics refusal to advertise its Ada product and services says much more about their true beliefs about Ada than the endless public posturing. Stop taking tax dollars to profess your love for Ada and do whatever you want. Greg Aharonian Source Translation & Optimization -- ************************************************************************** Greg Aharonian Source Translation & Optimiztion P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178