Now don't go too crazy for my suggesting this, but why not pascal?
Which dialect? ISO or GPC? Free Pascal or Delphi? (and if Delphi, which version) etc..
Ada95 is superior for most purposes to Pascal, is more standardized (there is only one standard) and is also widely available. It also produces very stable, reliable, maintainable applications, and has great standard thread support. There are widely available free implementations. It has seen heavy use in embedded and real-time applications (where many C/C++ compilers don't cut the mustard and real-time Java is still ghosty) which by their nature bear a strong resemblance to a VM and have a similar problem domain.
However, most people's exposure to Pascal is long ago and in an academic context, at least here in the States. I think most schools here have used C or C++, some have moved to Java, and there are some that avoid "business languages" altogether, using stuff like Scheme. On the other hand, C, C++, and Java are more likely to be known to the developer base that would be interested in this project.
My comment is not intended to be a flame for the Pascal fans. I know that Free Pascal has just come out with 2.0, and there are many people, particularly in Europe, who cut their teeth on Pascal. If we are looking at something outside the "C family" (i.e. C/C++/Java/C#) as an implementation language, my opinion is that Pascal is not necessarily the best choice even among imperitive programming languages. However, most open source development centers around "C family" languages, and there is the issue of critical mass as well as of technical suitability. I guess the answer for me is that Pascal in the round doesn't really offer that much of an advantage over using a "C family" language to set off the disadvantages.
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