Bronx cheer for Telesoft/Alsys ad in O.S.T.

Bronx cheer for Telesoft/Alsys ad in O.S.T.

[Gregory Aharonian]

    A recent advertisment is a good illustration of the hypocrisy surrounding
Ada and its promotion outside the Mandated world.  In the April 12, 1993
issue of Open Systems Today, a big Unix newspaper, page 62, there is a full
page ad from Telesoft/Alsys.  Measuring 11 inches by 16 inches, it is a
very effective ad for their TeleUSE GUI building tool.  Says all the right
words, has a nice layout, and offers a free brochure on GUI management as
an enticement to get people to call.
    Yet what language does Telesoft/Alsys promote?   C++.   "Higher quality
C code is generated" and "If your application is written in C++ (or another
language), then use TeleUSE....".   No credit for implications that other
languages are usable with this system - Ada needs explicit references to
build and maintain name recognition.

    Given that there is plenty of room on the page to add a few more words
to the text without detracting from the ad's appeal, adding the three letters
"A" "d" and "a"   costs them nothing financially, and helps promote Ada
to the non-Mandated world, that is, unless Telesoft/Alsys is embarrassed to be
associated with Ada outside the Mandated world.  Is it that unpleasant to
say "Higher quality C and Ada code is generated faster".  Anything to keep
Ada in the minds of people in the non-Mandated world.  Yet nothing. Why?

    The initial counter-argument that few Ada types read Open Systems Today
so that mentioning Ada offers little potential return, while acceptable for
most other companies, is not acceptable for Telesoft/Alsys, whose existence
and growth was supported by the Ada work they did in the Mandated world.
There should be some ethical responsibility to foster Ada at its expense
outside the Mandated world.

    The second counter-argument that their product maybe doesn't generate
Ada code is more of an indictment of their hypocritical behavior with regards
to Ada.  A leading Ada compiler company whose software tools don't generate
Ada.  What message does that give to people in the non-Mandated world making
proogramming languages decisions?  And if it does generate Ada, and they
don't mention it, what message does that send?

     Thus Telesoft/Alsys earns a Bronx cheer for its non-mentioning Ada ad
in Open Systems Today.  When even the Ada compiler companies show little to
no interest in promoting Ada outside the mandated world, then you know the
language is in big trouble.  You would think the DoD would demand better
behavior from its contractors to help buttress the socioeconomics underlying
the Ada mandate.  The Pentagon doesn't want to support the language outside
the Mandated world, the contractors don't support the language outside the
Mandated world, and the compiler vendors spending more money promoting other
langauges.  Who's left to promote Ada - me and Ted?

Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimization
-- 
**************************************************************************
Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimiztion
P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178

Re: Bronx cheer for Telesoft/Alsys ad in O.S.T.

[David Helken]

Gregory Aharonian (srctran@world.std.com) wrote:
: 
:     A recent advertisment is a good illustration of the hypocrisy surrounding
: Ada and its promotion outside the Mandated world.  In the April 12, 1993
: issue of Open Systems Today, a big Unix newspaper, page 62, there is a full
: page ad from Telesoft/Alsys.  Measuring 11 inches by 16 inches, it is a
<... much deleted...>

Hey, Alsys, are you listening?