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Subject:
From:
Richard Conn <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Richard Conn <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 28 Jul 2000 05:45:57 -0400
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text/plain (87 lines)
Mike,

I obviously don't agree with your stance, Mike, and I feel that
positions and attitudes such are yours are holding back the Ada
community to a large degree, and they have been for many years.
As a consequence, Ada is moving from an "also ran" to a "never ran"
in several high-investment domains.  Many of the ideas behind Ada
are sound and of value, but they are being hidden from many elements
of the software development community because of the enormous thrust
in these domains and the lack of an Ada presence there.

People are talking more constructively now about the advances in the
Microsoft world rather than just passing on heresay and innuendo like
I saw at the start of this thread, and some people
who were not aware of them are now aware.  The public negative
feedback I've been getting from some people on the list, such as
yourself, is far outweighed by the positive private feedback I've
been getting from this list and the people I work with.

Sorry, but I guess you'll just have to live with me (at least for a
while),
Rick
====================================
Richard Conn, Principal Investigator
Reuse Tapestry


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Feldman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 11:19 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Pocket PC - a platform where Ada *should* have a
presence


Rick et al,

Since this thread is really not going away, I'm going to shift gears
and try to put it in perspective. Rick, it is simply not clear to me
just what you're trying to accomplish.

- Raising our consciousness about Microsoft's importance in the world?

  I doubt anyone in this group was unaware of it before you wrote.

- Trying to get more of us to write Ada applications against
  Windows interfaces?

  Lots of us are already doing that, and I doubt this discussion
  has served to recruit many more.

- Convincing us that Microsoft "standards" are standards?

  We've beaten it to death - different people define the term
  differently?

- Accomplishing any significant shift of priorities in the Ada
  community?

  I doubt it, because Ithink you're talking to the wrong people
  here. See below.

[snip]
>
> This is definitely a platform on which Ada should have a presence.
>
> Enjoy the report(s),
> Rick

Well, if you think so, you - as a person who seems to be trying to
bridge the gap between the Ada community and Microsoft - seem to be
in a good position to establish some contacts on both sides. An
endless thread on Team-Ada seems to me to be one of the _least_
effective ways to get this done. A more effective way by far is
to work behind the scenes as a "marriage broker". I have a good
bit of experience trying to make "marriages" between Ada vendors
and the academic community. Not all my efforts succeeded, but not
all my efforts failed either.

Rick, have you tried working behind the scenes to make connections
between the relevant Microsoft folks and the Ada vendor companies?
The decision-makers on both sides are - we can be pretty sure - not
likely to be readers of Team-Ada!

Mike Feldman

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