From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,LOTS_OF_MONEY autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,3b92a669f03c7c7 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: g2news2.google.com!news4.google.com!news2.volia.net!news-out.ntli.net!newsrout1-gui.ntli.net!ntli.net!news.highwinds-media.com!newspeer1-win.ntli.net!newsfe2-win.ntli.net.POSTED!53ab2750!not-for-mail From: "Dr. Adrian Wrigley" Subject: Re: PolyORB - building and applications User-Agent: Pan/0.14.2 (This is not a psychotic episode. It's a cleansing moment of clarity.) Message-Id: Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada References: <4n9v82F9ccvrU1@individual.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:26:18 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 82.10.238.153 X-Trace: newsfe2-win.ntli.net 1158668778 82.10.238.153 (Tue, 19 Sep 2006 13:26:18 BST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 13:26:18 BST Organization: NTL Xref: g2news2.google.com comp.lang.ada:6660 Date: 2006-09-19T12:26:18+00:00 List-Id: On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:31:40 +0200, Alex R. Mosteo wrote: > Dr. Adrian Wrigley wrote: > >> On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 05:18:56 -0400, Stephen Leake wrote: > > (snip) > >>> Use a supported compiler with Annex E. >> >> Good idea! >> >> What choices are there under $12,000? ($2000 might be OK) > > If you qualify for the GAP program, you will get good support from AdaCore > in exchange for Ada advocating, basically. Your bug reports will receive > answers in form of workarounds and bugfixes to CVS. > > http://www.adacore.com/home/academia/ I'm exactly the kind of Ada user who needs a reliable compiler, with professional support, if necessary. I don't qualify for an academic version with support - I use Ada software to run my business. To justify paying money for a supported compiler, I need to be confident that it will improve my business (after accounting for the (possibly) saved time and the cost). It might take a month to rewrite code to avoid suspected libraries. I would consider that a somewhat better choice than paying $12k for someone else to look into problems for me. Other businesses might reasonably take a different view. The situation becomes more uncertain if I am unsure whether or when the library will be fixed, and whether it will be available to the public soon. Even at $2000, the choice would not be clear cut. Ada's prospects were severely curtailed by the high cost of compilers in the 1980s. GNAT now gives the casual user a very high quality product at nil price. But if reasonably priced, supported, complete (incl. annexes and popular libraries) aren't available for professional use, people will rightly question the long-term viability of the language. -- Adrian