Mark Lundquist wrote:

> Similarly, I don't understand the
> level of contempt that would lead someone to stuff the ballot
> box.  Someone actually thought ESJ was dumb enough not to check
> for duplicate votes, and that they didn't deserve enough respect
> not to multiple-vote.  As a result team-ada ended up looking like
> bozos.

Is this true that they know the ballot box was stuffed?  I thought
I read they "suspected" it was being stuffed.  If we did do it,
shame on us.  I was hoping (or getting my hopes up) to see
some useful numbers.

Frank Beard
FB Inc. Consulting


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Lundquist [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2000 1:36 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: "Why Not Ada"
>
> > I read through the comments posted at the SlashDot site, and some of the
> > misinformation was so mind-bogglingly ludicrous that it warranted its
> own
> > Douglas Adams' metaphors.  I was embarrassed for some of the
> contributors
> > that they not just believed, but would actually post, such foolishness.
> >
>
> In spite of this, I was really pleased to see the question "Why not
> Ada?" being posted on Slashdot.  That Ada is on people's radar screens
> is a Good Thing.  I'm not seeing "Why not Haskell?" out there, for
> instance... (no offense intended to any Haskell fanatics :-)
>
> These are good opportunities for the Ada community to rise to the
> occasion by dispelling mythology and FUD in a gracious way.  Here are
> some guidelines I try to keep in mind -- maybe they will work for others
> as well:
>
>     1) Don't mistake ignorance for stupidity, or either one for malice.
>        The task is to educate.
>
>     2) There are people who are able to write in a reasonably articulate
>        and persuasive style about things of which they in fact have no
>        real knowledge.  The Internet breeds this type of person, and I
>        know because I have fallen into this trap myself before.  A good
>        example is the guy on /. who was parroting the "designed by
>        committee" and "feature creep" mythology.  He actually sounds
>        like he might know what he's talking about, if one didn't know
>        any better.  Have sympathy for these people, but correct them so
>        they can become propagators of facts instead of fiction.
>        Treating them right may help win them over.  Remember, this
>        person likes to be right, so if you give them good evidence they
>        will often change their tune unless they are unusually
>        opinionated.
>
>     3) There's way too much paranoia and "fortress mentality" in the
>        Ada community, so make a conscious effort to overcome it.  It
>        really doesn't play well to the rest of the world.
>
>        Someone posted regarding the Embedded Systems Journal on-line
>        poll that "they'll just keep re-running it until they get the
>        answer they want".  I just don't understand this type of
>        thinking.  ESJ was under no obligation to run the poll in the
>        first place, nor to include Ada in it.  They way to really trash
>        Ada would be to deliberately ignore it.  ESJ included Ada in
>        their poll, and they were equanimous enough to list the languages
>        in alphabetical order :-).  Similarly, I dont't understand the
>        level of contempt that would lead someone to stuff the ballot
>        box.  Someone actually thought ESJ was dumb enough not to check
>        for duplicate votes, and that they didn't deserve enough respect
>        not to multiple-vote.  As a result team-ada ended up looking like
>        bozos.
>
>        If we want others to think we have our heads up our
>        u-know-where, all we have to do is justify their beliefs by
>        our actions :-)
>
>
> --
>
> Mark Lundquist
> Senior Software Engineer
> Rational Software
> Development Solutions Business Unit
> Aloha, OR, USA