Borland lost its roots long ago


2003-12-05 05:52:23 PM
cppbuilder54
Borland lost its roots when it left Phillepe Kahn's idea of providing
inexpensive proprietary compilers and IDE's to Shareware, Freeware and
Public Domain developers. Nowdays you can't get a commercial use license
for anything less than $1000 when all the taxes and shipping are figured
into the purchase of a product from them.
Well I have news for Borland. This "enterprise" market they are pushing
their expensive software at has been taken ovr by Microsoft visual
studio and MetroWorks a long time ago. I see Borland's only real future
lies in dumping this freebie for "personal use only" Licensing nonsense
on their entry level products make then part of the pay product line
again at around $90 to $200 depending on what kind of database
connectivity they want to give them, and go back to being the
inexpensive compiler and IDE company for amateur commercial developers
that Phillepe Khan first invisioned when he created Borland.
BORLAND HAD BETTER DO THIS QUICKLY HOWEVER as there is now COMPETITION
in the enexpensive compiler market too in the following form:
GCC. While the GCC compilers are under the GNU GPL most of their
standard libraries are under the more proprietary software friendly LGPL
or exempted from GNU licensing when used with the GNU compilers which
actually makes GCC a verry proprietary software friendly compiler for
shareware or proprietary freware developers using C/C++ as their
language. There are currently IDEs for GCC of which DevC/C++ is probably
the best one currently under Windows and KDevelop and Anjuta are the
best ones under Linux. There is even the beginnings of a RAD for it
under Linux called VDK Builder based on the VDK/GTK toolkit. A cross
platform WxWindows based RAD for GCC that is inexpensive or uses a
proprietary software friendly license like the LGPL would blow CBuilderX
out of the water.
OpenWatcom. This is another open source product based on the updating
the old commercial Watcom Compilers in C/C++ and Fortran. Their goal
with C/C++ is essentially the same as with CBuilderX, A full standards
compliant compiler with a Rad System for WxWindows and a Cross Platform
system that will include BSD and Mac OS-X as well as All Windows
Systems, Linux, and such old standbys as OS/2, DOS/32 and DOS/16 that
the Watcom Compilers handled before. The open source license for the
OpenWatcom systems is very proprietary software friendly only requiring
a publication of the URL where its source code can be found on the
Splash Screen or other visible part of your software. This is another
project that is a SURE CBuilderX killer when it advances more toward
completeness.
FreePascal - Lazarus. FreePascal in its own right is a highlu cross
platform Pascal compiler that covers All 32 bit Windows, DOS/32 OS/2,
and Linux currently. A separate project called Lazarus is working on a
Delphi style IDE for FreePascal creating a potential Delphi Killer.
PowerBASIC. This looks one of the commercial programming environment
companies that is going to take over the roll that Phillepe Khan found
for borland. PowerBASIC is unique amongst BASIC language systems as it
compiles to native code like a C/C++ or Pascal compiler rather than
needing runtime interpreters. Currently PowerBASIC produces programming
environments for Win32 GUI, Win32 Console and DOS/16. They are however
working on systems for Linux and other platforms so this is certainly
another company that Borland should be worrying about.
Liberty BASIC. Liberty Basic is a very ambitious little shareware
company that has redesigned simple QBASIC DOS style basic to work under
Windows since Win/16 days. Unlike other programs that we have looked at
Liberty BASIC runs text mode programs from its own console window rather
than depending on the Console Mode of the OS to do so. It can also be
used for GUI programs by means of a simple RAD called Free Form. Current
OSs that Liberty BASIC supports are OS/2, Win/16 and Win/32. They say
that Linux will Be Supported as well.
Sun Java SDK and Sdudio 1 Community edition. To develop in java
inexpensively the language's original owners Sun Microsystems still
provide the best tools. Everyone probably already knows about the Sun
Java SDK as it has long been a requirement to develope in the language
at all. Sun Sdudio 1 in its Enterprise form is very expensive tool like
all enterprise level tools. However they also offer a Community edition
with no strings other than the usual proprietary software licensing
strings as a free download. They also offer the Studio 1 Community
edition and the SDK on a CD very inexpensively and this is the best way
to get it in my opinion because you support the development of Java and
the IDE by doing so. This IDE is also a very passible RAD for entry
level Java developers.
I have used all of the tools that I have described here and continuously
update them when the present me with new offerings. Any one of them
would make a good substitute for Borland's current offerings to me.