We're all excited about Delphi and it has to be said that Embarcadero works hard to add new functionality to make Delphi (and C ++) is a quick way to write, compile, pack and implement cross-platform native applications.
We're all excited about Delphi and it has to be said that Embarcadero works hard to add new functionality to make Delphi (and C ++) is a quick way to write, compile, pack and implement cross-platform native applications.
But the downside is that Embarcadero does not spend much time improving existing functionality. Until today there are 5274 outstanding issues. Some of them are a real pain in the ass.
I think it's time to mobilize all Delphi developers in the world and convince Embarcadero to improve Delphi by improving functionality instead of increasing functionality.
What do you think?
Stefan Glienke And don't write about testing and side effects ... I remember that at the Tokyo premiere, there was a mega bug with memory leak on android, on a simple "hello world", and if I remember well, you provided the workaround for this leak, yes? So what are the tests you write about?
ReplyDeleteJacek Laskowski The patch I provided solved the reported issue and I explicitly commented that I don't know if there are any possible side effects. Maybe in this situation there was none and the fix was fine.
ReplyDeleteBut I remember a ton of user supplied "bug fixes" that maybe solve one symptom but not the real issue or break other things left and right.
Also having the fix in some open source repository would do what? Could you rebuild your RTL, VCL, FMX, whatever? You would still need to wait for a bugfix release to officially get it.
As I said - it takes resources. If you look at the data that Microsoft got after one year of going open source you can see they can only afford it because they have enough resources to manage it. And that starts with evaluating reported issues and managing them. Which brings us back to my first comment in this thread.
http://mattwarren.org/2015/12/08/open-source-net-1-year-later/
I am not defending closed source but thinking that making something open source without changing attitude, company philosophy and project management is stupid fantasy.
Just over two years ago I wrote an impassioned essay on the Embarcadero forum. I talked about how we had a TeamB (when Borland no longer exists) and MVPs (who sign a contract agreeing not to "disparage" Delphi or Embarcadero). I noted this was similar to American horse racing, which had a Trainers' Association, a Jockey Club, an owners' association, etc. but no group that represented their source of revenue, the players. Eventually players banded together and formed a Horseplayers' Association. At one point HA members boycotted tracks that changed policies in ways that hurt the players. Result? The HA got a "seat at the table" and now have input when the other industry groups get together to discuss issues.
ReplyDeleteI thought the solution was similar - instead of a TeamB, we needed a TeamU who stood up for users! I noted that this would only work if the luminaries of the Delphi world would stand with TeamU and even be willing to risk their MVP status. I finished by noting how the community seemed to be divided against each other and covered several times I had potential solutions to some of our problems but never got a chance to present them because a segment of the community refused to acknowledge the problems existed and would rather engage in endless debate about their existence. I also noted how we could learn from other languages and communities and quoted part of a speech from Larry Wall in which he described how such "bridges" benefited everyone.
The result? A certain dentist replied that it was too long so he didn't bother reading it. Another MVP admitted he didn't read it either but that it was like "drunken hamsters walking on a keyboard". A third MVP who can't decide whether he wants to lead Delphi or print tickets replied "Yawn, did you write something?" and then admitted he didn't bother reading it either. There was one other reply from someone involved in the Jedi VCL project who liked the idea but wasn't convinced there would be enough users willing to commit to make it happen. That was it.
So, I believe it's quite possible to influence the course of Delphi and I know there are people with a lot of great ideas to address the shortcomings of the product. The problem is that the community is more like the characters on professional wrestling divided into two camps and they enjoy fighting more than fixing. Many pride themselves on denying problems exist. I remember a story former MVP Joanna Carter told of the time she met David Intersimone in person. She explained to him that she had a great idea for improving Delphi, but first she needed to explain what the problem was. As soon as she started describing the problem, he simply walked away when she was in mid-sentence and never came back!
That's what it's like trying to get the community to improve anything. I know I've personally seen the arguments that Delphi Stack Overflow activity is low because it's so well-documented and easy to use that people just don't have questions, the reason there were no commercially published Delphi books in several years (this was in 2012) was that Delphi was a mature product and there just might not be anything left to write about, and the lack of Delphi listings on job boards was because as soon as Delphi jobs opened up they're filled. Hence, the massive number of Java jobs compared to Delphi jobs meant that it was impossible to find Java developers. Oh, and Marco Cantu has at times insisted that Delphi has had more of an impact on the business world than Python ever had and that the Delphi ecosystem wasn't lagging behind the .NET ecosystem (9X the number of libraries in .NET's nuget package manager compared to Torry.net notwithstanding).
Speaking of horse racing, until we can remove the blinders from people we'll never fix problems we won't admit exist. If we could work together though we could leverage our collective strength and intellect. We could find many ways to collaborate with Embarcadero to make Delphi a better product.
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