Karl Nyberg wrote:
> ... The phrase "good hourly rates" in
> this case are a full 30 - 40% less than the rate paid during this entire
> five year period.  It's not competitive for me (and apparently not for
> others) and I wouldn't want people to draw negative conclusions about Ada
> from a situation that has business implications not related to the language.

One source of "inertia" in rates is that government contracts
tend to have very long lead times, and rates get included in
bids, and can only go up so fast.  I would presume that you
would have much more luck at commercial companies, either
getting a better rate, or getting equity.  For example,
a company like TopLayer Networks, which is using Ada for
commercial development, is presumably willing to "face the music"
as far as paying salaries that attract enough good programmers.

However, when you are a government contractor, there is inevitably
a problem boosting rates, because the government doesn't have the
same flexibility in terms of building volume, going into new
markets, etc.  What the government and government contractors
provide is at least relatively more stability than the commercial
marketplace, and that is attractive to enough people in general
(though perhaps not to enough programmers) to continue muddling
through.

--
-Tucker Taft   [log in to unmask]   http://www.averstar.com/~stt/
Technical Director, Distributed IT Solutions  (www.averstar.com/tools)
AverStar (formerly Intermetrics, Inc.)   Burlington, MA  USA