Re: Anybody in US using ADA ? New language competition? (long)

[Wes Groleau <wesgroleau@despammed.com>]

>>If you make a new web server, it still has to interoperate with
>>most of the things other webservers work with, or it won't get
>>used.  And it isn't being used, is it?  Sure, by Ada fans, but
>>that's not the point.
> 
> That's a lousy example. If you "interoperate" with those other things,
> (i.e. plugins and CGIs), you're also bringing in the intractable
> security problems of those other things.

My point is that if we need something "new" instead of "me-too"
to sell Ada, then it would have to be _really_ new.  A webserver
that doesn't do what people want webservers to do won't get used.
But to do all those things (the fact that they're insecure doesn't
stop people from wanting them) it has to have the interfaces
for them, and thus it's not something "new" in the sense that
Marin was advocating.

> That's precisely why I updated Tom Moran's web server to use for our
> AdaIC backup server. It doesn't know how to execute another program (and
> never will), so no one will ever be able to use it to launch Cmd.Exe, no

No one will ever use my Apache to launch cmd.exe on my Mac, either.  :-)
Seriously, I think an Ada webserver is a good thing, but unless you
sell it from the security standpoint (which _severely_ limits its
audience) it's not something "new"

> But, all of that said, I think your basic point is correct.

Now that I've re-stated my basic point, still think so?  :-)