Mosemann Reaffirms Commitment to Ada and Gives His Views on Status Software Industry
Lloyd K. Mosemann II, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Communications, Computers and Support Systems, gave Defense Electronics his views on the status of the Ada industry. The following are quotes of Mr. Mosemann's answers to questions about the mandate, promotion, use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products and other languages, reuse libraries, and Air Force priorities for software, funding for advanced software research:
Mandate: "few requests for waivers have been granted by the Air Force." Mr. Mosemann's office is "reviewing existing policy and looking at extensions". Ada Joint Program Office (AJPO) is "providing education and support to Air Force organizations who wish to understand how to interpret the policy." Ada industry promotion: "industry has done a better job ..., but not much better." Efforts of Ada Software Alliance, SIGAda, and Ada Joint Program Office's (AJPO) Ada Information Clearinghouse (AdaIC) and free compiler project are noteworthy, but "my greatest disappointment is that these limited efforts are not coming from the Ada industry." Use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products and other languages: "DoD certainly supports the use of COTS software where appropriate." Other languages can be used if "a strong case can be made for why ... another language is better [than Ada] from a technical, as well as life-cycle perspective." Accessibility of reuse libraries: "We should strive for the widest access possible ... within all the constraints we have [budget, legal, etc.]." Air Force priorities for software: "Improve software quality through the efficient application of software engineering ... build systems with open architectures that are modular, well- defined and generic ... buy 'process,' as well as 'product'.", funding for advanced software research Funding for advanced software research: Changing current emphasis for funding to "test out and stress test new technologies and process" may have a powerful effect. More funding for "getting things into use would help lower risk for other programs and help incentivize commercialization". With an additional million dollars or two, he would "expedite the establishment of a DoD-wide metrics data repository and analysis capability."
[Source: "DE Asks," Defense Electronics, pp. 14-15, 1994.]
Alsys First With Ada Coupled with "pSOSystem" Runtime Environment for Motorola MVME162
Dateline: May 20, 1994
Alsys and Integrated Systems, Inc., jointly announced a new version of RISCAda+m targeting the Motorola MVME162 board, Motorola's most popular MC68040-based board.
[Source: Alsys Press Release, 2 May 1994. For more information, contact Pat Michalowski (Alsys) at 619/457-2700; Bruce Sherman (Marketing Consulting) at 619/483-2206, or Martin Chorich (Integrated Systems, Inc.) at 408/980-1500, X359]
Alsys First With Ada for Motorola MVME162
Dateline: May 20, 1994
Alsys, and Motorola Computer Group (MCG) jointly announced that new versions of Alsys' RISCAda SPARC X68K and RISCAdaTRIAD product lines are available to support MCG's MVME162 processor boards.
[Source: Alsys Press Release, 2 May 1994. For more information, contact Pat Michalowski (Alsys) at 619/457-2700; Bruce Sherman (Marketing Consulting) at 619/483-2206, or Terri Thorson (MCG) at 602/438-3287]