Re: 7E7 Flight Controls Electronics

["Ed Falis" <falis@verizon.net>]

On Sat, 29 May 2004 12:58:41 GMT, Marin David Condic <nobody@noplace.com>  
wrote:

>
> Of course if you've allowed for it in the schedule, you won't slip the  
> schedule. That depends on your experience with development of similar  
> systems. If Ada has a demonstrable edge in this area (cost and schedule)  
> then a competitor ought to be able to bid the job lower, wouldn't you  
> think?
>
> So where are the Ada shops willing to take on the development and offer  
> a lower price? Why isn't there some embedded system development company  
> that is agressively going after these projects and offering Ada with a  
> cost advantage? If they had a bunch of reusable components for the  
> problem domain and they were DO-178b certified, they'd have all that  
> leverage to bring to the table too.
>
> We can claim that Ada is superior and bitch because someone else won't  
> see that and use it and call them boneheads for doing so. Alternately,  
> if we really believed in its superiority, we'd have companies offering  
> an Ada alternative and be out-competing the other bidders with low  
> cost/high quality alternatives. I guess Ada needs a little more  
> entrepreneurial spirit if it expects to get in the door on these things.  
> ;-)

Jeez Marin,

Reading an awful lot into a single job ad, don't you think?

See http://www.windriver.com/news/press/20040330b.html regarding the  
selection of Wind River's AE653 RTOS for the core avionics.  See  
http://www.smiths-aerospace.com/Press/Publication/default.asp?PublicationID=75765A3F-1497-4802-BBE0-69EAFC2E63A0&Type=Press  
for info about Smiths Aerospace and the 7E7 program.  See  
http://www.gnat.com/pressroom_11.php for the AdaCore announcement.

- Ed