[DUG] A change in upgrade policy coming from Embarcadero

[Jeremy North]

>> I'd be careful stating that these things were added to the IDE without
>> compensation of some form.
>
> I don't need to be careful saying that, because I was careful NOT to say
> that at all.  ;)

Unfortunately you weren't subtle enough then.

> I'm sure suitable arrangements were made in each case, but the point is that
> the people involved did not create their respective contributions in
> expectation of financial compensation or under contract to BorCodeaGearo.
>
> They created and shared their efforts as an act of community.

Why does it matter what the original purpose of something was for? If
it helps to improve the product with causing a negative impact, then
we should be welcoming it. Although I don't agree with the pairing of
some third party tool deals, these just alienate other third party
vendors (speaking from experience).

> Take that "community" out of Delphi and I don't think that what's left is
> enough to stand up against fully Open Source on the one hand and the
> unrelentingly commercial on the other (and ironically that "unrelentingly
> commercial" hand - Microsoft - are doing MORE to support a community with
> their tools in terms of free/cheaper editions than Embarcadero).

The community left Delphi a long time ago. Newsgroup activity is way
down (which isn't such a bad thing), there are perhaps one or two big
open source projects. I've actually being doing some work with Lazarus
under OSX which has been interesting.

Given stuff away doesn't necessarily mean it will instantly create a
community. Half the problem with the "free" or "cheap" versions of the
products was that they were featured enough that most commercial
developers didn't need to purchase a license for the PRO or greater
items - and people still moaned that they didn't have all of their pet
features.

It is unfortunate MS pull their socks up when they did. I guess it is
easy to throw a lot of money at a product that really doesn't need to
make a profit (or even break even) when you have so many other pies
they can dip their fingers into. It is a bit like the deal on OSX with
their dev tools (as horrid and clumsy to use as they are). They are
basically free to use.