> - What .NET version to target? Any version. Visual Studio.net can do similarly (you select the target .NET framework dependency [can be set to "all" or to a specific .NET framework version] - VS.net can also compile to target mono, see RemObjects.com's Chrome for article on how to do that).
Also see WinMain's Grasshoper, to compile against Mono from inside VS.net For example VS.net2005 was written for .NET2.x, but supports .NET1.x too, plus the coming .NET3.x with an add-on download by MS > - What set of GUI libs? (Winforms 1.x/2.x, WPF) Any, if you mean which designers to provide, try to provide Winforms ones. Anyway in my opinion a form designer should be agnostic of the framework under it, just support visual containment and use Reflection-like APIs to get properties (and property pages if applicable) of container and contained controls (which are themselves containers to other controls etc.). There are some third-party advanced form designers using curves etc. for WinForms (maybe WPF will be similar), but they also work with classic components (and curves are manipulated by their rectangular bounding boxes) > - What set of OSes should it run on (Not just *nix, but also > XP <-> Vista)? If you use compiler plugins, the compiler could even reside on a remote machine. E.g. you could run Lazarus on Solaris and build using mono on a Linux machine (or even on a Linux running inside a VM inside the Solaris OS [talking via TCP/IP to the virtual computer]) or using .net sdk on windows > - Is real (vs on paper) portability an issue? IOW will we > abstract all libs > for usage with mono, and develop Windows + mono at the same > time, or do > we develop Windows first and just point to mono as a stopgap? Side-by-side, to make sure only portable stuff is used > - What is the benefit on embarking on this issue beyond just > buying a copy > of Chrome/Delphi.NET/VS2005 copy. IOW what is the added > value of doing > this with FPC, except because everybody is doing it (and already in > production, while we are not)? In that FPC on future Windows platforms (which take up a huge part of the desktop market) will not die (being an obsolete dinosaur) > - Do we do ASP.NET and other derivatives? (XML transformation > is getting awfully big, and might be the next specialised > area to emerge, see the remark over properties on symbols, > one can express XML mappings in code) Can do by providing appropriate form designers. Not related to XML transformations much though. > - Do we keep Borland compability? (VCL.NET emulation, > language features, other lib features) Will Borland still be > actively using VCL.NET in say 3 years? (or doing .NET for > normal apps at all?). If so, does mono limit us? I don't see why not use Borland's VCL.net directly too where allowed. Can compare VCL and VCL.net Borland sources to see what they changed during move to .NET I suppose > - If multi platform: > - do we develop new libs ? (no ADO on linux etc) What do you mean by "no ADO on linux"? ADO.net isn't ADO and doesn't need to use ADO stuff. > Of course you have to keep in mind that > - for every addition you answer "yes" to, you will be asked to put in > 2 years of your life to realise it. IOW, don't choose to be > compatible with all :-) You have to always aim high :o) > - Choices must be valid and usable in production for at least > the next 5 > years. (2 years devel, 3 years production) They will, WinForms API isn't dying, will always be arround in one way or another (even "emulated" over some other API) > - There will be major enhancements for .NET every 2-3 years, > and all commercial parties will there before us. So the > question of "what do we want as added value" also becomes > "what can we provided as added value given the known limited > resources". Please no stories about how developers will swim > across oceans to help us. Be realistic. I don't see why Lazarus has to compete with commercial vendors, it just has to evolve and keep up with changes in the s/w landscape, else it will eventually die > But what exactly runs under Mono? I assume Linux didn't > suddenly acquired an ADO layer? (even aside from the fact > that the most succesful .NET deployments seem to center > around ASP.NET) See also .NET FAQ, Mono is quoted again and > again, and I know that basic apps work. But what is really > the long time perspective, and how much does that limit you > to go the Borland way? Mono does (partially) ASP.net under Apache. Even Microsoft's ASP.net CAN run under Apache (with MS .NET runtime) Also, as I said above, ADO.net has not much to do with ADO. From what I remember there is ADO.net on mono (they provide managed db providers for MySQL and Oracle at least I think) > > Python is nice OOP language > > Can you name apps? Afaik it is mostly used for a bit of in > application scripting and some webapps. But is it really a > Delphi replacement? I doubt it. What does it use for GUI btw? Who said about Delphi replacement. It's just a nice OOP language, not my taste though when compared to Object Pascal or VB.net (btw, I hate C#, prefer Java to it) > > It's always useful to know Structure Programming (say > Pascal) before > > you move to Object-Oriented Programming (say Object Pascal, or C#, > > VB.net or J# and Java, etc.) > > True. But I already know Object Pascal, and have done some > Java and some C#. > However for me the GC aspect of .NET is not worth the > trouble, except for ASP.NET maybe. What would one actually gain? The GC aspect of .NET isn't like the one in Java VM. I have not seen problems with GC hickups stalling the whole runtime as in Java (although recent JVM versions have become much better). > > But then you lose all the fun, plus your skill rot > > I think your skills rot quicker when one shallowly moves from > one technology to the other. You always have to master what you're learning/using in my opinion, but depends on the time you want to give to that (we must have a real life too or eventually we wear off [I've been and still are there a bit]). You reuse your experience at whatever new thing you're at, the only thing to worry about is doing the same stuff over-and-over every day, not learning new things, nothing really inspiring (e.g. on .NET I find LINQ inspiring) ---------------- George Birbilis ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Computer & Informatics Engineer Microsoft MVP J# for 2004-2006 Borland "Spirit of Delphi" ++ QuickTime, Delphi, ActiveX, .NET components ++ http://www.kagi.com/birbilis ++ Robotics ++ http://www.mech.upatras.gr/~Robotics http://www.mech.upatras.gr/~robgroup _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. 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