[fpc-other] Re: [fpc-pascal] Pascal dialect -- was: Re: fpc-pascal Digest, Vol 72, Issue 12

[Graeme Geldenhuys]

On 4 June 2010 16:13, Michael Van Canneyt wrote:
> So actually, currently it's you being dangerous, and we are protecting your
> job safety. Just because we like our hobby.


I don't think dangerous is the correct word to use here. My thoughts
on open-source software (and this I have mentioned to a few here
before) is that because it's open and free, others using that software
have more time to review what is coming in the next release, and can
prepare their own project to keep up with changes. Exactly what I do
with fpGUI when a beta or RC release of FPC is announced.

Now compare that to Borland/Embarcadero that tells you nothing, not
even a clear roadmap (unless you pay them a fortune), and then
suddenly release a new version of a product.

I'm also a big believer of rather breaking a bit of code, to improve
an underlying design. In the long run you reap a lot more rewards and
have much better maintainable code. Compare that the Windows spaghetti
mess of inconsistent API's, software riddled with bugs etc, all
because they put "backward compatibility" on such a high pedestal that
it affects their product line.

Our company software was often broken due to changes made to tiOPF or
fpGUI. But those changes were carefully thought out, designed and then
implemented. And even though such changes broke our software, it was
always relatively little effort to fix - and because the frameworks
were open source, I knew what was coming so it gave me time to
prepare.  Your changes to MGM in tiOPF was one of those times. It
broke our code, but now we are much better off than before. So the one
day it took to fix our software was well worth the effort. And look at
the positive knock-on effect that had. You got introduced to
real-world usage of Observer etc, and that made you think of possible
improvements in the Classes unit.

I just think the same could be applied to any project, including FPC.
So no, I am not suggesting "dangerous" changes, just well thought out
improved design in some places.


-- 
Regards,
  - Graeme -


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fpGUI - a cross-platform Free Pascal GUI toolkit
http://opensoft.homeip.net/fpgui/