Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Help wanted - many flames available

From:
https://forums.embarcadero.com/thread.jspa?threadID=32101

Quoted:
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While I read these news groups daily, I very rarely post. However, tonight I feel like sharing my two cents just so I can say I informed Embarcadero that I won't be giving them any more of my money and why.

First, like a lot of people I go back to the Turbo Pascal 3.0 days and on thru Turbo Delphi 2007. While I did skip a few Delphi versions, 8, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010; I did purchase all the TP from 3.0 thru TP 6, Borland Pascal and so on. I also dabbled in the Turbo Prolog, Turbo C, Borland C++ and other Borland business products.

So why haven't I upgraded/bought versions 2009 and 2010. Well, the price! RAD Studio is just too expensive. I know it is supposed to be enterprise; however, I've been an independant contracter more since 2000 then I have been a full time employee (where the business paid the freight).

This isn't because I necessarily want to be independant; there just aren't Delphi jobs out there. Do a national search on dice.com with the keyword "delphi". I did it last week and there were 20 jobs. This is compared to more then 3200 Java and 1600 PHP jobs.

Delphi contracts are becoming even harder to find. With 20+ years in the pascal business, I have found myself forced into other languages.

How is this Embarcadero 's fault/responsibility? Well,the software development market place has changed, and Delphi has not changed with it. Two points of frustration for me are web and mobile.

Embarcadero does not have a delphi dynamic scripting solution like ruby, python, php and perl. So many businesses today don't want desktop apps, they want web sites built with popular languages and open source frameworks. If you look at those Java and PHP jobs, they are overwelmingly web stuff; from simple to complex. I have worked with webbroker, websnap, intraweb and delphi prysm. All but delphi prysm are non starters with shared hosting. As for Prysm, if I have to learn a slightly new language and a huge API, I might as well use the free tools for C# or just learn c#. For even more job oppertunities I should choose java/php.

This post is already way too verbose, but the mobile market is much the same.

Face it, when Delphi 1.0 was released, it was, without question, the best solution for destktop and c/s applications. Embarcadero doesn't have a compelling reason for me to shell out anymore money.

What do I want? Release an open source delphi language interpreter specifically designed for the web server. Use that brain trust to create a superior solution. Sell the ide and tooling but push all the shared hosts to support it on windows and linux. Many businesses start with shared hosting and then move up.

Create the language for mobile operating systems. If android can run c++, it can, then a delphi variant can be written for it. Again, sel the ide and tooling but give away the compiler/base editor. Flood the market with a free, easy and powerful solution.

Anyway, feel free to flame away. I made the mistake of posting so I deserve what I get.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a well-informed blog with some dark humour. It is clear that the "reviewer" is not a native English speaker, but the style of writing is very clear.

A lot of hard work has gone into the articles, but after reading pages and pages, I begin to wonder what the "reviewer" really thinks about Delphi. It sounds like a love affair that has turned sour.

I stumbled on the blog while searching for Delphi-related information. I realize that I have not really learned much, but yes, it has been entertaining.

Unknown said...

I love it that today Facebook announced HipHop http://developers.facebook.com/news.php?blog=1&story=358.