[fpc-pascal] Delphi for Linux is out

[Zoë Peterson]

On 3/23/2017 12:31 PM, Marco van de Voort wrote:
> It didn't help that some component maintainers like Synapse stuck to the
> libc format way too long.  Only in 2007-2009 when FPC on OS X got important
> that changed, I still use Indy(10) that switched much earlier to this day.

Having just removed the last vestiges of Libc.pas usage from our own 
project, this is entirely on the heads of the FPC maintainers.  Whatever 
the concerns regarding Libc.pas, it's usage was simple: Add "Libc" to 
your uses clause, look up (extensive) function documentation and sample 
code in the standard Posix man pages and StackOverflow.

The recommended FPC approach, on the other hand, is a combination of 
"Use functions from the RTL, BaseUnix, or other random packages" and 
"Import the relevant functions yourself", and the documentation is "Hope 
some exists or that adding an fp prefix works".  Add to that, sometimes 
the RTL does have the imports/record translations you need, but doesn't 
bother to expose them publicly.

Free Pascal has done great things, and I absolutely appreciate all of 
it, but not having a good alternative to Libc.pas or Delphi's new 
Posix.*.pas APIs has definitely been an annoying pain point.

-- 
Zoë Peterson
Scooter Software