[fpc-pascal]FreeCLX

[Matt Emson]

> > Has anybody developing the FPC compiler given FreeCLX any thought??
>
> We did. We are trying to get it to compile.

That's good ;)

> > 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.

They have to make money somehow!!

> > 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.

Sorry, not seen that at all. Never had it crash on me since FT 2 or 3. The
release version is stable under Mandrake 7.2.

> 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.

All this is planned however?

FPC could be used to put FreeCLX onto platforms not yet supported by Borland
(BSD etc.)

> 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.

Only looked at it really quickly.. nothing in the Files section.

> > The LCL/FCL status seems to be slow,.
>
> Actually, there is quite some progress, just the websites are not really
> up-to-date.

One good reason to update them then ;)

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

I'm currently using Kylix Desktop Developer - no problems at all. Not had
any problems under Mandrake since FT 3 (the first one that was usable) and
to be honest the release version works like a charm ;) Which distro are you
using? Used Kylix under Mandrake 7.1 and 7.2.. wouldn't touch any other
distro bar maybe Red Hat.. not really into sparse installers... (mind you
Suse is probably better than it was last time I used it by now!)

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

Not missing much. A whole bunch of SOAP and XML from the press release I
have read.

> > 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
>
> 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.

There are only about 2 guys working on Delphi at any one time. More come
release time, but on average two guys, for the whole product. (or so I was
told by a Borland employee.)

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

Kylix is a commercial product that cost money to produce.. FPC is free.. It
all kind of evens out in the mix ;)

> 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's exactly what I want to hear.. though Lasarus was supposed to be
kicking Delphi's butt about 2 years ago ;) (nuff said.. only messin/joking
:)

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

Oh that I had some time!! I'd truely like to get a MacOS/BeOS port under way
(PowerPC for Mac, 8086 for BeOS) but I don't have the time. I have a fairly
basic 6100 powermac now, so if anyone needs a beta tester for the Mac Port..
I'm there dude!! I'm helping out on a few other projects that are PalmOS
based... Hopefull they'll surface soon!!!

Matt