Re: Companies Only Offering Ada-95 Compilers

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@dizum.com>]

Simon Clubley <clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> wrote:

> I am assuming above that by "gcc Ada", you mean the FSF branch; I use the
> FSF branch in order to avoid GPL issues and because when I need a RTOS, the
> RTOS I use (RTEMS) also uses it.

Yes, that's what I mean.

> The GPL 2 to GPL 3 comment has caught my attention. Given that the FSF Ada
> runtime libraries come with the GMGPL exception, what issues are raised
> by the GPL 2 to GPL 3 conversion ? I am assuming I have missed something,
> but I don't know what.

It could be FUD but I have read FSF is eventually planning to do away with
the LGPL for libraries and has started moving to GPL3 for everything. I
personally wouldn't put anything past Stallman. I think it's only a matter
of time. He knows what he can get away with and what he can't. He's just
biding his time. It gives the FSF guys indigestion knowing there is any
library LGPLd.

> On a more general note, one of the problems is that if you want to do hard
> real time/bare metal/low level programming using a Wirth type language,
> which I do, then Ada appears to be the only viable choice. I would really
> like to find another choice as a backup option, but what I have looked at
> so far (Modula-2, a Oberon variant, etc) appear to all be one-off ports
> or lacking in other ways.

I don't know what to say on this. Maybe Modula-3 is worth a look? 

> Can you point to this "GPL bomb" issue, please ? It's something I need to
> become aware of and a quick search didn't reveal anything. BTW, wouldn't
> it affect C++ code just as much as Ada code ? If that's the case, then we
> may end up with a XFree86/X.Org type situation once again.

Following various various newsgroups and posts for the last few years this
is my feeling. Nobody comes out and says it. Yes, it will affect all the gcc
stuff, not just Ada. I think projects like FreeBSD are aware of it and
concerned and that is also motivating the move to clang (llvm). The BSD
projects will start moving off gcc and then gcc will eventually reduce
support for all non-Linux platforms (most people using gcc don't realize
anything but Linux exists anyway) and then nobody will be left to object to
everything being plain GPL 3 (or 4 or 5..)

Thanks to you and the other Simon for the info. I'd like to get at least gcc
Ada with lgpl libraries to run on Solaris.