Re: Ada Law

[seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman@uunet.uu.net (Michael Feldman)]

In article <SRCTRAN.93Apr12150524@world.std.com> srctran@world.std.com (Gregory
 Aharonian) writes:
>
[your stuff and my stuff deleted]

>    Most likely face-saving is more important than cost-saving, though as
>DoD budgets get chopped, and internal DoD battles (like with STANFINS, and
>now with RCAS versus SBIS), hopefully cost saving will win out, someone
>will start marketing Ada outside of the Mandated world, and all will be
>happy.
>
Here is where the rubber hits the road. When, oh when, will we see the 
Ada companies breaking out of the negative spiral they have created?

They say they can't market aggressively outside the Mandated world
because they don't have the resources (= money) to do it. They are
small companies, they say. This attitude guarantees that they will
stay small. And if Greg's prediction comes to pass, they will get
even smaller.

These guys keep telling me I don't understand, that I need a business
degree. Well, maybe so. But my world, the academic one, is where Ada
is growing fastest, it turns out. Looking at the trendline of schools
taking Ada seriously, we see a steady rise, perhaps _double_ each
year or so. Can the rest of the industry make this claim?

Ada is happening in education because many of us have had the
confidence in Ada and in ourselves to break our backs to make it
happen. We're getting closer to the point where we don't have
to work so hard, because we seem to be getting to a positive
spiral. Needless to say, not one of us has a business degree.
Just a commitment and a chunk of common sense. Maybe I'm doing
better by not understanding?

Mike Feldman