Nasser Abbasi wrote:
>
> ObjectAda/AppletMagic compiler is not free. the bindings are there, but
> you still need to buy the compiler itself, no? .

True, we do try to eek out a living by selling software,
however for evaluative purposes the software is free.

> I tried the Aonix Ada compiler, I download it for Solaris (70 MB of it),
> and then there was no instructions on how to use the compiler, not a
> single README file.

This seems peculiar to me since 100% of the documentation is
on-line.  Maybe some kind of jumpstart readme file would
help.  I have passed this on to the appropriate parties.

> and for UNIX I read on the Aonix webpage that one
> needs to ask for some key/id from Aonix to use the compiler, while on
> windows there are no such requirments. it seems Ada compiler vendors has
> something against UNIX I have no idea what. why require use to request a
> key/id to use the UNIX compiler while not on windows?

The Unix products have a built-in flexlm licensing mechanism
requiring a license key to unlock it.  They key is free and
requires only that you call our customer support line to get
it for your host.

The Windows version takes a different approach by the
nature of the platform.  Certain capabilities are limited
on the free Windows version, whereas the Unix version has
no such limitations.  So you could make the case that we
are Unix-friendlier in that sense.

In any case, both are free to use for academic and
evaulative purposes, though not for commercial purposes.
We want to do what we can to help and encourage the
grass roots supporters of Ada, such as yourself, in
making the value of Ada evident to decision makers.

-- Dave Wood, Aonix
-- Product Manager, Win32 and Java products