[fpc-pascal]FreeCLX

[Michael.VanCanneyt at Wisa.be]

On Tue, 8 May 2001, Full_Name wrote:

> Has anybody developing the FPC compiler given FreeCLX any thought??

We did. We are trying to get it to compile.

>
> FreeCLX is the GPL'd portion of the CLX that comes with Kylix and will come
> with Delphi 6.

We know. Actually, the GPL is a problem, since it explicitly forbids
development of commercial applications. the FPC license does.

>
> As Kylix rocks,

Partly, yes. But I wouldn't try to develop serious applications with it yet,
given the long list of bugs and the fact that Kylix crashes still about 20
times a day. But it is definitely easier to make small apps.


> and is Delphi language compatible, can we assume that FPC will
> compile and run against FreeCLX?? Is anyone thinking/working on this?? I figure
> it should be pretty easy, appart from the slight dialectual differences between
> FPC and Delphi/Kylix.

Actually, it is NOT so easy, since there are some issues:
- Multithreading support of FPC is not yet finished
- WideString support also is not done
- Variants are not yet integrated in the language.

These are the main issues, and they require some work on the compiler.

>
> Take a look at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeclx/
>
> Nothing to download yet, but afaik this will be the 'hub' for the FreeCLX.

You can use CVS to download the FreeCLX. I have a copy. If you look at the
bug list you'll also see a series of bugs I submitted, some of them quite
basic.

>
> I don't have the Linux version of FPC downloaded, otherwise I'd try it ;) (not
> enough of a masochist to try porting to windows!!)

There is no need to port this, it will run on Windows as is.
Delphi 6 ships with it. (Should be available June 8)

>
> The LCL/FCL status seems to be slow,.

Actually, there is quite some progress, just the websites are not really
up-to-date.

> and FreeCLX is already theoretically a fully tested product - release
> quality.

I beg to differ. I have extensively worked with kylix, and it is _not_
release quality. Late-stage Beta at most, but not release.

What is more, many essential parts (netclx, midas, reporting tools) are
missing from the commercial and free version.

>
> Just thought that Lazarus could do with a kick up the arse (joke!! no flames
> please!!) Having used Kylix for the last few months (yes beta) I can say it
> currently kick Lazarus/fpc's collective Linux butt :P

I agree that development is definitely easier with Kylix.

But, may I remind you that
1) Qt (the underlying building blocks of VisualCLX)
   is maintained since about 5-6 years by a commercial company.
2) Kylix is managed by a company with about 800 employees, of which about
   50 on the R&D staff only.
3) FPC is maintained by essentially 6-7 people in their spare time.

Given that, I think the comparision is not really fair.

But, as I said: We're working on it, and in a year or so, we'll see who
will kick who's butt, to use your words :)

That said, feel free to join in, we can use some help.

Michael.