I am one of those codgers old enough to remember Delphi 6 personal, and
the Turbo Delphi era (the next free edition name for delphi), and Delphi
Starter, and each time the pattern is the same:
1. Announce it.
2. Hope it works.
3. Wander away and lose interest.
Let's hope that DOES NOT happen this time. Delphi needs this "free" starter edition. I wholeheartedly agree with the wiser and saner heads who will from time to time argue that this needs to come back if it's currently in a hiatus. Not dead, you understand, just resting, like that parrot in Monty Python.
With or without a free edition DELPHI IS NOT DEAD, but with a free edition it's healthier. We need a tools ecosystem, that's an essential part of modern software development. A healthy ecosystem needs us to be able to build free stuff for Delphi. With a free edition of Delphi, I hope it will always be possible to run continuous integration servers, for example, for open source projects written in and for Delphi development, and not need to worry "how do I build and run its unit tests and deliver the installers for our product/package".
We need encryption libraries. We need REST server and rest client frameworks and add-ons thereto. We need something approaching the breadth and depth of the ecosystems of Java and .Net, if Delphi is to continue to exist as a sensible way to work in a web-everywhere connected world.
So delphi Starter, ahem, Community, is back. I for one am glad.
1. Announce it.
2. Hope it works.
3. Wander away and lose interest.
Let's hope that DOES NOT happen this time. Delphi needs this "free" starter edition. I wholeheartedly agree with the wiser and saner heads who will from time to time argue that this needs to come back if it's currently in a hiatus. Not dead, you understand, just resting, like that parrot in Monty Python.
With or without a free edition DELPHI IS NOT DEAD, but with a free edition it's healthier. We need a tools ecosystem, that's an essential part of modern software development. A healthy ecosystem needs us to be able to build free stuff for Delphi. With a free edition of Delphi, I hope it will always be possible to run continuous integration servers, for example, for open source projects written in and for Delphi development, and not need to worry "how do I build and run its unit tests and deliver the installers for our product/package".
We need encryption libraries. We need REST server and rest client frameworks and add-ons thereto. We need something approaching the breadth and depth of the ecosystems of Java and .Net, if Delphi is to continue to exist as a sensible way to work in a web-everywhere connected world.
So delphi Starter, ahem, Community, is back. I for one am glad.
