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"Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
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Michael Feldman <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 1 Aug 2000 04:03:01 -0400
Reply-To:
Richard Conn <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Richard Conn <[log in to unmask]>
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Mike,

As I said before, it's important to recognize and state the problem first.
You are looking for solutions, but they don't come so easily in most cases.
However, in this case, a solution is fairly obvious ... for us to become
more involved in these activities.

At Tech Ed 2000, there were 300 vendors, and none of them mentioned Ada
(that I saw).  11,000 attendees, 300 vendors, and months of visibility
afterwards thru post-conference messages and CDROMs.  Of the vendors (IBM,
Compaq, Dell, HP, Construx, etc.), Rational Software Corporation did have
a booth, touting themselves as an e-Commerce solution provider.  It seems
there could have been at least one Ada compiler vendor with Ada compilers
for Windows in a shrink-wrap package.

Rick
====================================
Richard Conn, Principal Investigator
Reuse Tapestry


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Feldman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 11:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Pocket PC - a platform where Ada *should* have a
presence


[said Rick]
>
> Several people on this list have expressed an intolerance to Microsoft
> (perhaps there is an analogy here again to those people conquered by
> ancient Rome), but, unlike ancient Rome, we can better our position
> by working with Microsoft rather than turning our backs on them.
> We as a community are divided enough without drawing lines based
> on one company.

I couldn't agree more. But I'm still waiting to see some specific,
constructive, suggestions for how we can actually do this. Do you
have some, Rick?

> It's not a single individual who can hold back the "Ada community"
> -- but intolerance, a lack of being willing to listen to other ideas,
> and a community culture that is not actively following technology
> advancements and trends can hold us back and eventually kill us.

I've followed this thread and think you are exaggerating. It is not
intolerant, but simply a statement of reality, that Microsoft tries
to impose its ways on everyone in the industry. Being honest about
this is, IMHO, the best way to live with it and try to leverage on it.

Some in this group will want to do this leveraging, others not, but
you are badly mistaken to tar everyone with the same brush.

It is also a distortion to say this community is not "actively
following technology advancements and trends". Undoubtedly some
are more steeped in Microsoft details than others, but your broad
assertion that the "community" (whatever that is) is ignorant of
the current state of technology (even of Microsoft technology
specifically) is groundless, and verges on insulting our (collective)
intelligence and experience. This is not an effective way to
get action, Rick.

It would be far better to state, concisely and constructively,
just what your proposed solutions are, and indicate the extent
to which you will participate along with any other "takers".

> Rick

Mike Feldman

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