[Lazarus] Lazarus first contact

[Mike Parr]

Lazarus first contact

Well, not really first contact.  I messed around with Laz a year or 2 ago.  
Great system, but the web 'visibility' was poor, I thought. I am beginning to 
use it again, and give my impressions of a novice who has heard of Laz, and 
wants to use it.  Please take this in a positive way - I want to help.

So... I google  'Lazaras ide'.  I get to the www.lazarus.freepascal.org  page.  
Good. But it seems to  be a forum rather than  a product.  Nevertheless, I see 
a download link.  I follow it.

I see:
Looking for the latest version? Download lazarus-0.9.30.4-fpc-2.6.0-win32.exe 
(78.8 MB) 

I assume this is a Windows 32-bit version.  Not sure if it runs on Win 64(quite 
common now) or if there is a latest Linux version.
There are no install instructions - maybe they will appear when I run it?
There are a host of other versions below:
   GZIP...RPM...DEB...Windows 32 Bits( is this the same as the win32exe above?)
   No idea what GZIP or RPM means.  Is the GZIP for Windows, just zipped in  a 
different format?
   
   I guess that Sourceforge is restricted as regards explanatory text - but 
could the versions be given clearer names?  If I want to learn programming from 
the start, Laz could be great, but there is an initial barrier.

Anything I can do to help?

Mike
   
   






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Re: [Lazarus] Reconstructing Lazarus Website 2: the content

[Mike Parr]

 Hi All
I think Aleksa's content for an intro page is excellent.  It does not need to 
be part of a CMS - can just be static pages, linking to documentation, wiki.

There is also the issue of downloading 'help'  for Windows users:  the html or 
the chm version, or whether to always look at online help.  Also, I think that 
win7/vista users need a Microsoft download to run the chm version.

best wishes
Mike


 Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:49:56 +0100
 From: Aleksa Todorovic alexi...@gmail.com
 Subject: Re: [Lazarus] Reconstructing Lazarus Website 2: the content
 To: Lazarus mailing list lazarus@lists.lazarus.freepascal.org
 Message-ID:
   74e474ac1001310849l658535dci29781d6566fa7...@mail.gmail.com
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
 
 Several things which should be easily visible/accessible to anyone who
 comes for the first time, or wants to get started with Lazarus:
 
 What is it? - explaining in short what is Lazarus, LCL, FPC, Lazarus-CCR
 How does it look like? - screenshots of Lazarus on different
 platforms, different Lazarus windows/dialogs, examples of applications
 made with Lazarus
 Tell me more! - up-to-date (as much as possible) list of Lazarus features
 Why should I use it? - explaining why is Lazarus so great tool,
 comparison to Delphi, comparison to other IDE tools, list of features
 which were available in Lazarus before Delphi (Graeme started this, if
 I remember correctly)
 Who is using it? - list of projects/applications made using Lazarus
 How do I get/install it? - with information and link to
 download/install instructions
 How do I use it? - basic tutorial for Hello World
 Where can I get help? - this page can list help sources (forum,
 Wiki, mailing lists, irc, whatever there is) with direct links helpful
 wiki pages
 
 There should probably be a section with these information on the first
 page. The first page should primarily be for those who come for the
 first time - to attract them, and show them what Lazarus really is.
 
 For users which already tried Lazarus, these informations are useful:
 
 I have a problem! What now? - instructions how to search wiki,
 forum, mailing list, how to report issue to bug tracker
 What I already have? - list of packages (with explanation) which
 come with Lazarus
 Where can I find ...? - list of components (CCR), links to external
 useful stuff
 How can I help? - for new possible contributor/developer/whatever...
 
 These two sections should be clearly separated. In addition to them,
 there should probably be some section about FPC (which should contain
 links to important products connected to FPC).
 
 There should, of course, be much more, but these are just some
 preliminary thoughts.
 
  
  
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[Lazarus] Lazarus is invisible?

[Mike Parr]

Hi everyone

I've been using delphi 4, 5, 6 for years, and only recently discovered Lazarus. 
 I will definitely use it.

It seems to me that this is a major package, but it has (to my mind) zero 
prominence on the web.  I may have missed something, but here is why:

1.  There is no mention of it on the Free Pascal page

2.  When one eventually finds a link to it, this link goes straight to  a forum 
page.
  (Which says to me:   'you need to be an expert to be here'  )

3.  No obvious 'getting started' example.

4.  No info on how many users, downloads, use on projects  (i.e no Advert)


Surely Lazarus is one of the major tools of Free Pascal?  Personally - just to 
be controversial - I would say that Free Pascal is a major part of the Lazarus 
project, in the sense that a great IDE, with possibility of multi-platform 
execution, and the hiding-away of much of the GUI coding, is the big deal.   
(By 'hiding-away', I'm referring to the clunky connections to GUI toolkits that 
one sees in Python and Ruby.)

Best wishes  (you have my support)

Mike Parr

  
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