February 13, 2006
Support Delphi, Now!
For the dream of a new Delphi era to become true, the community needs to start acting now, or better, to keep acting as usual but with renewed strength.
So you feel part of the Delphi community and wish Delphi will survive (and prosper) after Borland sale... what should you do? Wait and see how things evolve or start acting now?
Buy, Write, Read, Publish, Help... don't Wait!
If you don't have Delphi 2006 and feel you need it (it is indeed a very good release), buy it right away, don't wait. If you have written material on Delphi, publish it right away (I'll do my best to finish my Delphi 2006 ebook ASAP). If your fellow programmers don't know Delphi, show it to them right away. If you are thinking of an open source project made with Delphi, go on sourceforge and open it (there are already 2,031 project related with Delphi). If you have written a great component, make it available or start selling it. If you help others in newsgroups keep doing it. If you don't do it, start doing it now. Don't sit, act.
Everything we do to make the community stronger in the coming months will be a benefit, whatever happens with the ownership of the Delphi product (particularly if some independent investor buys it, as David I mentioned in some of his recent newsgroup posts). Don't listen to doom sayers, listen to the positive feeling the R&D team is showing in their blogs and elsewhere.
Stand Up and be Counted
There are thousands of Delphi applications out there, including many notable ones. You can find the best list on the site http://delphi.wikicities.com. I renew the appeal I wrote years ago (in 1999) for BDN to “Stand Up and be Counted”, add any relevant application to the site above or let us revise one of the other similar sites (mentioned at the beginning). The list is impressive: Skype, Jabber, QuickBooks Point of Sale, Spybot, Copernic Desktop Search, Macromedia Captivate, Avant Browser, The Bat!, XanaNews, FeedDemon, Topstyle Pro, PowerArchiver, ZipGenius, Ares Galaxy...
Delphi Core Platform
P.S. I have an addendum to the Delphi dream post: what about a “Delphi Core Platform” fully free for everyone to download, with some free personalities (C++, Python, an XML editor, an HTML one...) maintained by open communities and a set of personalities sold on a subscription basis by the DelphiNewCo?
26 Comments
Support Delphi, Now!
Marco, I just bought your excellent Mastering D2005 book this weekend. Even though a lot of it is stuff I already know, having used the product for years, you always cover areas that I've glossed over or need more details on, so it's worth having your stuff. Now if only you had a PDF version of it on sale...that sucker is heavy to carry back and forth to work! RandyComment by Randy Magruder [http://randymagruder.blogspot.com] on February 13, 17:44
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I looked at how much a Delphi 2006 Enterprise UPGRADE cost and I about choked. Besides the Enterprise copy of Delphi I have at work, I bought a Professional copy for hobby use at home. I paid for most if not all the upgrades between Delphi 2 and Delphi 7. But the cost of keeping up to date was totally unreasonable. I suspect that many Delphi developers skip releases like I do. I think NewDelphiCo would be better off if most of its customers kept on new releases. KevinComment by Kevin Davidson [http://www.BlogOrDie.com] on February 13, 18:13
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I buyed the product d2006 two weeks ago, but after
the news of february 8 , i am very worried. The
product seems a good product (not like d2005) but
all of us need a sign (from ¿?). I use delphi 7 and
all my developments can wait for the new proprietor.
In this new version are missing a lot of things:
compact framework .... .Net 2.0 ......... .
Other products like Chrome (pascal), csharp
develop ... and others invert in investigation and
they get it.
I would like to know the new propietor , his plans,
roadmap, and other things before. Now I won't invert
(my time) in a tool with a so unclear future, I
already wasted money in D2006. I am sorry.
Comment by vicente on February 13, 18:53
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most of (the very few of) us don't really have the
cash to buy Delphi 2006
and from the very few who have the cash to buy it,
why would they buy a product from a company... no
wait, why would they buy a product that belongs to no
company? ("NewCo" doesn't count)
Comment by Eber Irigoyen
[http://ebersys.blogspot.com]
on February 13, 18:57
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Why should I buy Delphi now? I'd better give my money to "The New Delphi Co." than to Borland. Borland won't invest any more money in Delphi, right? Why sponsor ALM products instead of Delphi?Comment by Andris on February 13, 20:42
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Marco, I think your PS it's the rigth way for the future. CIAOComment by Bertoncini Luca [http://sviluppoesviluppi.blogspot.com] on February 13, 21:43
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D2006 is a great product. D8 and D2005 have ruined the reputation of Delphi big time last couple of years, but after investigating the alternatives I must say that Delphi still makes sense today. If I have to choose for a (now still immature) .NET framework or the VCL I still prefer the last one. C# is a great, but still lacks a framework that can match VCL. Why does Delphi still make sense to me? - the community (if there is one thing that makes Delphi strong, it has to be this one) - VCL (unlike .NET, shipped with all sources) - the ultra-fast native code compiler - code portability - the streaming system - the open tools API for component developers - the structured and self documenting Pascal language The main drawbacks that need to be fixed: - pricing... Although I think that MSFT does not make much profit with the extremely low pricing of VS. - stability of the IDE. D2006 is a BIG improvement, but is still not as stable as good old D7.Comment by Unnamed Identifier on February 13, 21:55
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Hi Marco, I like suggest to buy D2006 from new company, not from Borland. And I wish a open source compiler+RTL+VCL+BDe+DBExpress, so the community can help the new company to bring Unicode+64bit+multiplatform. A similar strategy as MySQL. If they don't do this, unfortunately I feel as our masterpiece Delphi will die slowly slowly... :'(Comment by Roby on February 14, 10:55
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A couple of clarifications. Buy Delphi now means, in the words of David I, that "if you need Delphi now, and you're trying to solve real problems, buy it now. There's no reason to wait." The new company needs a solid user base, not a declining one. I think it needs a solid use base more than cash. Also notice that Borland has not stopped supporting Delphi. They have not stopped developing it. The R&D team is at work, all of them. DevRel is pushing the product. An udpate and the trial version are still expected soon. The company is still bound to the roadmap and working against it. Finally, Tod Nielsen and the Board of Directors have been very clear that "the aim has been to help our customers first. The highest priority is not to maximize the sale value, but look for investors who will do things in the best interest of our customers, the DevCon company, and our shareholders".Comment by Marco Cantù [http://www.marcocantu.com] on February 14, 11:31
I will do my best! :-)
I have just finished a course about COM and .NET Programming in Delphi; today, I'll do another course about using MySQL with ADO and dbExpress components. During these courses, often reading and explaining some Delphi capabilities and comparing them to Microsoft tools, for examples, reveals a great value inside this product, clearly visible for me and for all my customers, even without the need of make "big shows" to highlight them. In order to support Delphi community, I am also planning about writing some articles (in Italian language) and publish some example on my blog. Even if my spare (read: "non working") time is a little bit limited, I'll do my best to keep up this product hoping that it will be evaluated from the "new company" for the value it really has! I will start creating a little poll, as soon as possible, to ask what visitors would like to read or get their hands on. By the way, can I "trackback" this blog entry? ;-) Go Delphi! Bye, Marco.Comment by Marco Breveglieri [http://www.marco.breveglieri.name] on February 14, 11:36
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Cash and Future, those are the questions. Can I as a single developer layout that much cash for a product that has such a cloudy future? As much as I love Delphi, I can't risk my career on it any more then I already have. And I can't justify the cash when C# is so cheap. Of course C# has just enough issues that I know I'll get frustrated at times (ARGH! THIS WOULD BE SO EASY IN DELPHI). Face it, its good experience to learn other languages. For the short term, I'll code new stuff in C#. If in 6 monthes, if the air clears and a NewDelphiCo emerges from the ashes (at a reduced price??), I'll use reflection to convert the C# back over to Delphi. But until then, the check goes back into my wallet. HOPEFULLY it will be sooner rather then later.Comment by Steve Wash on February 14, 17:58
Support Delphi, Now!
"if you need Delphi now, and you're trying to solve real problems, buy it now. There's no reason to wait." If I need Delphi it's because I already have Delphi, I guess... if I already have a recent version I see no good reason *now* to upgrade. Why should I give money to a company that is selling the tool I use and invested in? Wait for the new one to start and give money to it looks to be a better option. Or Borland will give money to the new company? I don't think so. "The new company needs a solid user base, not a declining one." When the new company will be unveiled, and if the company will look solid enough, I guess most current developers will give it a chance. Not before. The more time passes, the more developers will switch to other environments, or at least try them. The user base has been declining for some time. "Finally, Tod Nielsen and the Board of Directors" C'mon, who believes them anymore?Comment by Anonymous on February 14, 19:34
Support Delphi, Now!
I've been using Delphi since V1. If I remember correctly, Turbo Pascal and Delphi V1 after that were around $75. This was something most tinkerers could afford on their own. This also allowed me to bypass my corporate puchasing group and obtain it on my own. Now, BDS 2006 Enterprise costs me almost $3k! I have owned every Delphi version since 1.0, but have not necessarily have used each version. My current Win32 development environment is still D7, though I do own BDS2005 and now DBS2006. I purposedly bypassed BDS2005, but do find BDS2006 very promising. However, now I find myself in the position of having to target technologies for which the interfaces, examples and APIs are not readily available to the Delphi programmer. Things like RDF, the sematic web, and the Apache foundation libraries are forcing me to switch to the Eclipse IDE (for free) and, unfortunately, Java, something I thought I wouldn't need to. I will always support Delphi for Win32 development; but am not sure how well I can split my time between Pascal for Win32 and ASP development, and Eclipse for Tomcat and Apache development.Comment by Juan C. Rodriguez on February 14, 22:07
Support Delphi, Now!
The company I work for bought D2005 Enterprise and, quite simply, will not purchase any further Borland IDE products until such times as their future is assured. The "Board" of Borland have killed sales of the IDE product to most businesses by their announcement. Only those businesses that desparately need a copy will buy it. As for the individual users, those who can afford it and needed it, will have bought it by now. The others will wait and see who buys "DevCo" because they do not have > $1000 to fritter away. Unless a suitable buyer is found very quickly I can see the "cash cow" becoming a millstone.Comment by JQL [http://www.visualaccounts.co.uk] on February 15, 12:18
Support Delphi, Now!
Marco, I will probably buy BDS2006 from the new croud. I will definitely not buy it from Borland. I own every version of BP/Delphi from BP 5.5 to Delphi 6 and Kylix 1 (Pro versions). Borland have systematically pushed the price of Delphi upwards while adding little for the smaller developer (The price of Delphi 2005 was twice the prices of a months rent here without SA ). Borland have leeched all of that money (while pleading poverty, lack of resources etc) from Delphi and pushed it into ALM. I cannot and will not support them. Some advise to the new croud would be to drop SA to 20%-25%. That way, most Delphi developers would buy in to it. It would probably be a good idea to release an affordable small developer edition (No ALM etc) and a free hobby version (Students etc). Cheers DeanComment by Dean [] on February 15, 14:53
It's over guys
Come on. We've all had fun, we've all been way more productive than most, we made a lot of money, the end is here. Not tomorrow (maybe a few years ago) but definitely, it's dead. Anders gave us a really nice replacement and I'm going to use it. I'm out of the Delphi ghetto. I hope you guys join me too. http://lamecode.com/?p=498Comment by bob jones [http://www.lamecode.com] on February 15, 23:26
Back to code!
Back to code, boys! Instead of wasting time (myself first) speculating about future, come back to BDS2006 and write code, useful for you and your customers! Make money, help your customers to make money. BDS2006 is here, now, is good, more productive IMHO than .NET (that need at least 1-2 release to became as good as VCL, even it's younger so has some advantages in it obviously), so use it! This history of Delphi dying is something I hear from V3... Now is V10 alive and kicking, despite Borland, Inprise, Corel acquisition. Seemed that VB was safer, and now VB is dead. My applications written with BDE runs with Oracle10g without problems, I can open and enhance them with BDS2006. This is fact! Is Microsoft using .NET? Is new shining office release written in C# or what? So why have I to use it?? What % of Vista is written in some CLR language? Instead, 700 new Win32 apis will born with Vista... Ok, back to code now.. I've wasted too much time with these speculations. Real world is another thing.Comment by Roberto Icardi on February 16, 03:45
Support Delphi, Now!
You can easily tell which comment posters don't have a sizeable number of lines of code written in Delphi. Go on, take your "Calculator" hobby programs and re-write them in Java, C# or whatever seems "cool" to you. Real Delphi zealots (like me) find it difficult to consider a future without Delphi. Don't get me wrong, I can code in C#, Java or VB and get results but "The Experience (tm)" that Delphi gives you is like no other. Go Delphi!Comment by wpSlider on February 16, 05:53
Support Delphi, Now!
> Go Delphi! Sorry guys, I really loved Delphi for a decade, and I don't want to piss on your parade (and hate to sound like Hector Santos), but this really sounds like: Go dBASE IV !!! Go Paradox! Go PowerBuilder! Go ObjectVision! (remember that one?) Go COBOL! Go Btrieve! Go FoxPro! Go, um, Fortran 77! Go Amiga! Go Classic VB- (who needs the .NET junk)?! Go ReportSmith! Go Entera! Go Quattro Pro! Go Sprint! (Borl's wordprocessor..)Comment by bob jones [http://www.lamecode.com] on February 16, 18:50
Delphi Wiki site
Hoi Marco Nice to see that you also have found the Delphi Wiki page, with the Delphi application list. Since Kevin Berry started this list a year ago, I have gained X-ray vision when it comes to detecting Delphi applications. It has even surprised me how many Delphi apps you can find in the market, and most people have no idea. You can go to a major download site like www.download.com which have loads of shareware and freeware apps. If you take the applications with high ratings from the editors or from users, about 1 in 5 is a Delphi app. Does it mean that there are many Delphi programmer, or does mean that Delphi programmers makes better apps than most other shareware developers? ;-) Doei RIFComment by Richard Foersom on February 17, 23:50
Support Delphi, Now!
Hey!! After some days diggesting the notice, I think this can be a good think for us. For me the best will be the "Delphi Software Company" a company focused on Delphi who promote our language forgetting market fashions. If Borland need to get out Delphi, Delphi IDE need to get out the ballast of Java, C# and Interbase... Delphi rocks, it's true!!Comment by F.Ruiz on March 3, 12:52
Support Delphi, Now! Why?
Hi! I'm your big fann. I have all your books in editions "Master of Delphi" I am all new to programming. I love Delphi very much. I have Delphi 7 and Delphi 2005. But, all this days walking over internet and forums, i'm confused "why use delphi, when c# will kill him". Will Delphi exist in future, is it worth my time and learning?! I searched for jobs in Delphi especialy Australia because me and my family plan to move there and I found 15 jobs for Delphi and 2000 for .NET developer in C# or VB.NET. So, I don't know what to do ?! To work on Delphi in this moment or just leave it behind and move to VS.NET and C#. But one thing is still true "Delphi is best RAD tool ever"Comment by Zooma on March 16, 19:38
Support Delphi, Now!
Every morning I log on to the Borland Delphi site to see if Delphi has found a new home. The sooner the better, but PLEASE don’t tell me it’s Microsoft, as I have no doubt that would be the end of the line for Delphi, one way or the other. I’m with the folks who say they will buy BDS’06 as soon as there is a new company to work with. I’d be happy to continue to support Delphi, as I feel it is still the best product available. However, Borland is no longer on my list of good guys and I see no reason to give them more of my hard earned cash. In the meantime, I have way too much invested in Delphi to try to port all of my code to C# overnight, especially considering the limitations of C# and the .NET libraries. So…I continue to use D7 for real work. However, I am using BDS’05 to study .NET and C#, just in case there are no choices left. I’m still hopeful, but I’m also damn concerned.Comment by Terry Robinson [Terry.Robinson@State.co.us] on March 16, 23:29
Support Delphi, Now!
We are still using D6 only. We purchased D8 & D2005 and planned to migrate....... but never did it. It may be good to wait for the new company to take over the reins from Borland. Though we are getting promo offer of 45% reduced rates in India but decided not to hurry up !Comment by Francis S Victor [http://www.lenvica.com] on March 21, 10:54
The great product that is meant to be
We are not writing here about an old and depleted product like dbase, sprint or cobol. Maybe I am hurting some people senses but some of them nor even were a popular product, rather a choice for alternative users. Most of them were as real and advanced as they could be for some time, but then turn into almost cult techs or tools, and just like every cult we know, their followers don't ever notice when they was surpased and get into the semi-obsolecence (there still are a lot of fervorous clipper followers). Delphi is not totally different, a pretty, pretty well done product from its very foundations to the last version after .Net-Together-unit testing-refactoring transition, but somehow still losted in the shake, and a company not totally inmune at Microsoft's oscure competition. However, more now than ever before, communities make the difference. The real difference between the best product and the best marketing. Nowadays here in my beloved Mexico is not possible to found in the most popular bookstores a recent Delphi nor Java publication, but VB.Net or C# is covering half the shelves. Every university or goverment orgs that were taking advantage (a real advantage) of linux or any other technology not in the MS trademark (Delphi included), have been contacted from that company somehow they were converted. Still, I´m a Delphi developer and I know a lot, and linux is already some sort of tech fortress for the new enterpreuners.Comment by Salvador Gomez Retamoza [] on May 8, 21:12
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Support Delphi, Now!
Comment by Luigi D. Sandon on February 13, 13:46