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NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:52:20 -0600
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:52:20 +0000
From: Martyn Pike <emconuk@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: Every little bit helps - Publicity in Embedded Systems
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Date: 2009-01-29T22:52:20+00:00
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RasikaSrinivasan@gmail.com wrote:
> http://www.embedded.com/212902632?cid=NL_embedded

An interesting article, but is it 100% accurate ?

*Some* free tools maybe but I disagree with the implication that all 
those ports to most mainstream 16 and 32 bit CPUs are free.

As far as I am aware, the profiles referenced here 
(http://www.adacore.com/home/gnatpro/toolsuite/runtimes/) are not free, 
not licensed by the GPL and only available to GNAT Pro customers ?

If I call Adacore up and say :

"Where can I download a pre-built binary free/GPL version of GNAT that 
is hosted on Windows but cross compiles to PowerPC and gives me a 
Ravenscar Profile compliant runtime for my hypothetical barebones hobby 
project ?"

I would be told those requirements mean I needed a GNAT Pro subscription 
which is not free.

I quote the article :

 > Tasking is a built-in feature, not a bolt-on requiring
 > expensive dalliances with RTOS vendors

Those expensive dalliances still exist, but I feel the Ada developer 
actually pays twice.  They pay the RTOS vendor for the OS license and 
stock tools and then they have to pay Adacore for the Ada tools that 
layer GNARL/GNULL ontop of the RTOS.

If I chose the language supported by the RTOS vendors stock tools 
(invariably C/C++) then I only pay the RTOS vendor.  Albeit I would pay 
in blood, sweat and tears later on in my project lifecycle !

It is very confusing for me, as an Ada developer, to read an article 
like this and not feel like new converts to the Ada cause are being spammed.

Please correct me if I am wrong.  I am not knocking Jack Ganssle or 
Adacore for their efforts but I find this article slightly misleading.

Martyn