[fpc-pascal] Delphi for Linux is out

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Thu, 23 Mar 2017, Zoë Peterson wrote:

> 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 idea was, and is still today, that you can write applications that are
independent of libc, and talk to the kernel directly.

No-one has ever offered to maintain a Libc import unit. 
It was provided only as a courtesy to Kylix devs.

That said, if someone steps up and offers to update Libc for all supported 
architectures, she/he is welcome. But be warned that this will not be easy.
The structures depend highly on the CPU. Delphi supports only 2 CPUs (64-bit
and ARM). FPC slightly more...

Michael.