[fpc-pascal] CrossFPC is finally released

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Mon, 31 Dec 2012, Simon Kissel wrote:

> [Excuse the broken thread reference, I just subscribed to this list]
>
> We've just released the first public version at www.crossfpc.com. Go
> check it out. So yes, we kept the "late 2012" release date ;)

Technically, I am amazed by your achievement. 
It installed flawlessly, examples compiled (well, with crossfpc). 
As a first impression: thumbs up.

What puzzles me is: why still do this ?

8-10 years ago, I could see the need.

These days, I much more prefer working in the Lazarus IDE than in Delphi.

Lazarus is much faster, is much better at finding units and identifiers, 
is more stable and has some features which I can no longer work without. 
And I have learned to live with its drawbacks. I'm sure people using 
MSEGUI+MSEIDE will have similar comments.

As for VCL functionality: You state that GUI will not work with CrossFPC.
That means that third-party stuff like Dev Express or TMS software 
components are also out. So this reason for preferring Delphi over 
Lazarus also falls away.

Midas will also not work. (still a compelling reason to use Delphi).

Debugging is done with gdb, so similar in functionality to what Lazarus offers.

So what does Delphi+CrossFPC offer that Lazarus (or MSEGUI+MSEIDE, if you prefer)
does not ?

Given that you obviously spent lots of time on this, I would think this time is 
better spent on implementing the missing things in Lazarus ? 
Which - after initial inspection - would seem to me a matter of improving the 
installer so it includes cross-compilation.

Please don't mistake this as critique (crossfpc performed as it should), 
I am just curious for your motivation. Maybe I missed some things.

Michael.