Re: GNAT GPL Edition Maintenance and Upgrades

[Jean-Pierre Rosen <rosen@adalog.fr>]

Georg Bauhaus a écrit :
>> If you are a newcommer and just want to have a look at what Ada looks 
>> like, you want a ready-to-run distribution.
> 
> 
> Then just pick one (or use the one that comes with your OS).
> If Windows programmers need a squarish colored window in
> order to conceive of a compiler as a compiler,
> then there is a business opportunity. Write another colorful GNAT
> installer that promises ease of use. Use the MS trick. This has been
> suggested many times, and if the installer is worth it, I'll be
> among those who will consider bying at an adequate price.
Yes, a nice looking ready-to-use distribution is very important for the 
promotion of Ada. That's why everyone was happy when Adacore announced a 
new public version, long after the oldish 3.15p. And then everyone was 
disappointed to see that it had been done in a way that would have an 
adverse effect for the goal of promoting Ada.

Of course, anyone could do another one. AdaCore has the tools to do it 
in a minute, but they don't want to. Now, someone has to go into all the 
nasty details of making a nice distribution to replace AdaCore. Who will 
do it? I don't think anybody will - and I regret it. I would bet that if 
such a distribution did appear, AdaCore would revert its position in the 
next week.

>> You download Gnat from ACT's site (with some suspiscion: why do these 
>> guys require me to fill a form), and then you discover that you are 
>> forced to use it for free software only. Immediate conclusion: "Oh, 
>> Ada is just for those dreamers of the FSF, nothing like an industrial 
>> language". Of course, these people do not make the difference between 
>> Ada, Gnat and Gnat-Pro.
> 
> 
> (Isn't this mere speculation? So no conclusions to be draw from this.)
What I mean is that I can't imagine a "use case" where a customer would 
chose to use AdaCore's services due to this policy, and would have not 
if a GMGPL distribution were available *from Adacore*.

OTOH, I can imagine many "use cases" where this situation harms the 
promotion of Ada.
-- 
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            J-P. Rosen (rosen@adalog.fr)
Visit Adalog's web site at http://www.adalog.fr