[fpc-devel] Interface scope incompatibility with Delphi

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Thu, 11 Nov 2010, Graeme Geldenhuys wrote:

> Op 2010-11-11 01:21, Henry Vermaak het geskryf:
>>
>> Why didn't they just set a bounty or pay a compiler dev to fix it?
>
> Because that is still no guarantee that it will be implemented in a timely
> fashion. Our company tried that route before without success. We set a $500
> bounty, it was accepted very quickly, but 1.5 years later still hardly
> anything was done, and there was no signs of it ever getting done, so we
> retracted our bounty and moved on to a different solution. Companies cannot
> sit around and twiddle their thumbs for people that only think of something
> as a "hobby", and treat it as such. We run a business that need to pay
> bills and salaries.

If someone honestly thinks that the hobby approach is not suitable for business, 
then the following question poses itself: 
Why did he decide anyway to base his product on it ?
(it is a rethorical question, not in need of an actual answer)

If this person decided to do this anyway, then it means he accepted the risk that 
some things would not be fixed/changed in a timely fashion. It is inherent 
in the system. Blaming the hobbyists for a decision he consciently made 
is simply not correct. No-one forced him to use the product, no one made 
any guarantees (one can read it in every source file).

If guarantees are needed:
Meanwhile, one can buy a support contract from http://www.lazarussupport.com/.
As far as I know, it is a success since the day it was launched; 
so people can actually order a fix/change and be sure it will be done in time; 
that's why it is a paying service.

Not that paying is any guarantee. I have still several bugreports open with 
Borland, both for Delphi and Kylix. Same for other products. More often than not
I fix the bugs myself simply; I haven't bought a single product yet without errors. 
It is why I always require source code.

With MS-Windows, I don't even bother to report bugs, I know they won't get fixed. 
And still we pay, even though it gets worse with each version.

Michael.