Repository updates

As most know by now, I was running a successful campaign on Patreon until recently. I know that some are happy with Patreon, but hopefully my experience will be a wakeup call about the total lack of rights you as a creator have – should Patreon decide they don’t understand what you are doing (which I can only presume was the case, because I was never given a reason at all). You can read more about my experience with Patreon by clicking here.

Setting up repositories

Having to manually build a package for each tier that I have backers for would be a disaster. It was time-consuming and repetitive enough to create packages on Patreon, and I don’t have time to reverse engineer Patreon either. Which I might do in the future and release as open-source just to give them a kick in the groin back.

To make it easier for my backers to get the code they want, I have isolated each project and sub-project in separate repositories on BitBucket. This covers Delphi, Smart Pascal, LDEF and everything else.

The CloudRipper architecture is coming along nicely. Here running on ODroid XU4

I’m just going to continue with the Tiers I originally made on Patreon, and use my blog as the news-center for everything. Since I tend to blog about things from a personal point of view, be it for Delphi, JavaScript or Smart Pascal — I doubt people will notice the difference.

So far the following repositories have been setup:

• Amibian.js Server (Quartex Web OS)
• Amibian.js Client
• HexLicense
• TextCraft (source-code parser for Delphi and Smart Pascal)
• UAE.js (a fork of SAE, the JS implementation of UAE)

I need to clean up the server repository a bit, because right now it contains both the server-code and various sub projects. The LDEF assembler program for example, is also under that repository — and it belongs in its own repository as a unique sub-project.

The following repositories will be setup shortly:

• Tweening library for Delphi and Smart Pascal
• PixelRage graphics library
• ByteRage bugger library
• LDEF (containing both Delphi and Smart Pascal code)
• LDEF Assembler

It’s been extremely busy days lately so I need to do some thinking about how we can best organize things. But rest assured that everyone that backs the project, or a particular tier, will get access to what they support.

Support and backing

I have been looking at various ways to do this, but since most backers have just said they want Paypal, I decided to go for that. So donations can be done directly via paypal. One of the new features in Paypal is repeated payments, so setting up a backer-plan should be easy enough. I am notified whenever someone gives a donation, so it’s pretty easy to follow-up on.

 

Click the picture above to support the project(s)

 

Updates used to be monthly, but with the changes they will be ad-hoc, meaning that I will commit directly. I do have local backups and a local git server, so for parts of the project the commits will be issued at the end of each month.

While all support is awesome, here are the tiers I used on Patreon:

• $5 – “high-five”, im not a coder but I support the cause
• $10 – Tweening animation library
• $25 – License management and serial minting components
• $35 – Rage libraries: 2 libraries for fast graphics and memory management
• $45 – LDef assembler, virtual machine and debugger
• $50 – Amibian.js (pre compiled) and Ragnarok client / server library
• $100 – Amibian.js binaries, source and setup
• $100+ All the above and pre-made disk images for ODroid XU4 and x86 on completion of the Amibian.js project (12 month timeline).

So to back the project like before, all you do is:

1. Register with Bitbucket (free user account)
2. Setup donation and inform me of your Bitbucket user-name
3. I add you on BitBucket so you are granted access rights

Easy. Fast and reliable.

The QTX RTL

Those that have been following the Amibian.js project might have noticed that a fair bit of QTX units have appeared in the code? QTX is a run-time library compatible with Smart Mobile Studio and DWScript. Eventually the code that makes up Amibian.js will become a whole new RTL. This RTL has nothing to do with Smart Mobile Studio and ships with its own license.

QTX approaches the DOM in more efficient way. Its faster, smaller and more powerful

Backers at $45 or beyond access to this code automatically. If you use Smart Mobile Studio then this is a must. It introduces a ton of classes that doesn’t exist in Smart Pascal, and also introduces a much faster and clean visual component framework.

If you want to develop visual applications using QTX and DWScript,  then that is OK,  providing the license is respected (LGPL, non commercial use).

Well, stay tuned for more info and news!

Quartex: Mali GPU glitches

EDIT: I did further testing after this article was written, and believe the source of this to be about heat. Even with extra fans, running games like Tyrian (asm.js) that are extremely demanding, plus resizing a graphics intensive windows constantly, the temperature reached 71 degrees C very quickly. And this was with two cabinet fans helping the built-in fan to cool the device. It is thus not unthinkable that when running solo (no extra fans) that the kernel shut the device down to not cook the chipset. Which also explains why the device wont boot properly afterwards (the device is still hot).

Glitches

Something really strange is happening on Chrome and Firefox for ARM. JavaScript is not supposed to be able to take down a system, and in this case it’s neither an attempt as such either — yet for some reason I have managed to take down the ODroid XU4 with both Chrome and Firefox lately.

ODroid XU4

I guess I should lead with that I’m not able to replicate this on x86. One of the things I really love about the ODroid XU4 is that it’s affordable, powerful and probably the only SBC I have used that runs stable on the mali GPU. As you probably know I tested at least 10 different SBC’s back in 2018, and whenever there was a mali GPU involved, the product was either haunted by instabilities or lacked drivers all together.

Since the codebase for Chrome (and I presume Firefox) is ultimately the same between platforms, it leaves a question-mark about the ODroid. It is by far the most stable SBC I have tested so far (except for the PI, which is sadly underpowered for this task), but stable doesn’t mean flawless. And to be honest, Amibian.js is pushing web tech to the very limits.

Not Mali again

The reason I suspect the mali to be the culprit behind all this, is because the “bug” if we can call it that, happens exclusively during resize. So if there is a lot going on inside a desktop-window, you can sometimes provoke the ODroid to cold-crash and reboot. You actually have to power the board down and switch it back on for it to boot properly.

Cloudripper ~ 5x ODroid XU4 [40 cores] in a PICO 5h cube

The resize and moving of windows uses CSS transformation, which in modern browsers makes use of the GPU. Chrome talks directly with OpenGL (or glES), so the operations are proxied through that. And again, since OpenGL is pretty rock solid elsewhere, we are only left with one common denominator: the mali GPU.

The challenge is that there is no way to debug or catch this error, because when it occurs the whole system literally goes down. There is no exception thrown, nor is the browser process terminated (not even a log entry, so it’s a clean-cut) — the system reboots on the spot. Since it fails on reboot when opening X (setting a screen-mode) I again point the finger at the GPU. Somehow a flag or lock survives the cold-reboot and that’s why you have to manually switch it off and on again.

This is the exact problem that made the NanoPI Fire useless. It only shipped with Android embedded drivers. The X drivers could hardly open a display without crashing. Such a waste of a good cpu.

x86 as head

ODroid is perfect for a low-cost Amibian.js experience, but I was unsure if it would handle the payload. Interestingly it handles it just fine and even with a high-speed action game running + background tasks we are not using 50% of the CPU even.

Ram is holding up too, with memory consumption while running Tyrian + having a few graphics viewers open, is at a reasonable 700 mb (of 2 gigabyte in total).

Tyrian jogs along at 45 fps ~ that is not bad for a $45 SBC

Right now this strange error is rare, but if it continues or grows into a problem (chrome is hardly useable at all, only firefox) then I have no option than to replace the master sbc in the cluster with something else. The x86 UP board is more than capable, but it would be a shame to break the price range because of that (excuse my language) crap mali GPU. I honestly don’t understand why board makers insist on using a mali. Every board that has a mali is haunted by problems and get poor reviews.

It will be exciting to check out the dragonboard, although I fear 1Gb memory will not be enough for smooth operation. Not without a sata interface and a good swap-file.

Android and Delphi

One alternative is to switch to Android and use Delphi to code a custom Chromium Embedded webview. I am hoping to avoid the overhead of Android, but Delphi would definitively be a bonus with Android embedded (“Android of things”).

We will see.

Leaving Patreon: Developers be warned

As a person I’m quite optimistic. I like to think the glass is half-full rather than half-empty. I have spent over a decade building up a thriving Delphi and C++ builder community on social media, I have built up a rich creative community for node and JavaScript on the side — not to mention retro computing, embedded tech and IOT. For better or for worse I think most developers in the Embarcadero camp have heard my name or engage in one of the 12 groups I manage around the world on a daily basis. It’s been hard work but man, it’s been worth every minute. We have so much fun and I get to meet awesome coders on a daily basis. It’s become an intrinsic part of my life.

I have worked very hard for my MVP title

I have been extremely fortunate in that despite my disadvantage, a spine injury in 2012 – not to mention being situated in Norway rather than the united states; despite these obstacles to overcome I work for a great American company, and I get to socialize and have friends all over the planet.

The global village is the concept, or philosophy, that technology makes it possible no-matter where you live, to connect and be a part of something bigger. You don’t have to be a startup in the san-francisco area to work with the latest tech. Sure a commute from Burlingame to Redwood beats a 14 hour flight from Norway any day of the week — but that’s the whole idea: we have Skype now, and Slack and Github; you don’t have to physically be on location to be a part of a great company. The only requirement is that you make yourself relevant to your field of expertise.

Patreon, a digital talent agency

Patreon is a service that grew straight out of the global village. If the world is just one place, one great big family of human beings with great ideas, then where is the digital stage that helps nurturing these individuals? I mean, you can have a genius kid living in poverty in Timbuktu that could crack a mathematical problem on the other side of the globe. The next musical prodigy could be living in a loft in Germany, but his or her voice will never be heard unless it’s recognized and given positive feedback.

“The irony is that Patreon doesn’t even pass their own safety tests. That should make you think twice about their operation”

My examples are extremes I agree, most people on Patreon are like me, creative but absolutely not cracking math problems for Nasa; nor am I singing a duet with Bono any time soon. But that’s the fun thing about the world – namely that all things have value when put in the correct context. Life is about combinations, and you just have to find one that works for you.

The global village, the idea of unity through diversity

The global village is this wonderful idea that we can use technology to transcend the limitations the world oppose on us, be they nationality, color, gender or location. Good solutions know no bounds and manifests wherever a mind welcomes it. Perhaps a somewhat romantic idea, if not naive, but it seems the only reasonable solution given the rapid changes we face as a species.

In my case, I love to make software components in my spare time. My day job is packed and I couldn’t squeeze in more work during the weekdays if I wanted to, so I only have a couple of hours after-work and the weekends to “do my thing”. So being a total geek I relax by making components. Some play chess, the guitar or whatever — I relax by coding something useful.

Obviously “code components” are completely useless to anyone who is not a software developer. The relevance is further clipped by the programming-language they are written for, and ultimately the functionality they provide. Patreon for me was a way to finance the evolution of these components. A way of self motivating myself to keep them up to date and available.

I also put a larger project on Patreon, namely the cloud desktop system people know as “Amibian.js” or “Quartex Web OS”. Amibian being the nickname, or codename.

Patreon seemed like the perfect match. I could take these seemingly unrelated topics, Delphi and C++ builder specific components and a cloud architecture, and assign each component and project to separate “tiers” that the audience could pick from. This was great! People could now subscribe to the tier’s they wanted, and would be notified whenever there was an update or new features. And I could respond to service messages in one place.

The Tier System

The thing about software is that it’s not maintained on infinite repeat. You don’t fix a component that is working. And you don’t issue updates unless you have fixed bugs or added new functionality. A software subscription secures a customer access to all and any updates, with a guarantee of X number of updates a year. And equally important, that they can get help if they are stuck.

“when you are shut down without so much as an explanation, with nothing but positive feedback, zero refunds and over 1682 people actively following the progress — that is utterly unacceptable behavior”

I set a relatively low number of guaranteed updates per year for the components (4). The things that would see the most updates were the Rage Libraries (PixelRage and ByteRage) and Amibian.js, but not until Q3 when all the modules would come together as a greater whole — something my backers are aware of and have never had a problem with.

Amibian.js running on ODroid XU4, a $45 single board computer

The tiers I ended up with was:

• $5 – “high-five”, im not a coder but I support the cause
• $10 – Tweening animation library
• $25 – License management and serial minting components
• $35 – Rage libraries: 2 libraries for fast graphics and memory management
• $45 – LDef assembler, virtual machine and debugger
• $50 – Amibian.js (pre compiled) and Ragnarok client / server library
• $100 – Amibian.js binaries, source and setup
• $100+ All the above and pre-made disk images for ODroid XU4 and x86 on completion of the Amibian.js project (12 month timeline).

Note: Each tier covers everything before them. So if you pick the $35 tier, that also includes access to the license management system and the animation library.

As you can see, the tier-system that is intrinsic to Patreon, solves the software subscription model elegantly. After all, it would be unreasonable to demand $100 a month for a small component like the Tweening library. A programmer that just needs that library and nothing else shouldnt have to pay for anything else.

Here is a visual representation, showing graphically why my tiers are organized as they are, and how they all fit into a greater whole:

The server-side aspect of the architecture would take days to document, but a general overview of the micro-service architecture is fairly easy to understand:

Each of the tiers were picked because they represent key aspects of what we need to create a visually pleasing, fast and reliable, distributed (each part running on separate machines or boards) cloud eco-system. Supporters can just get the parts they need, or support the bigger project. Everyone get’s what they want – all is well.

The thing some people don’t grasp, is that you are not getting something to just put on Amazon or Azure, you are getting your own Amazon or Azure – with source code! You are not getting services, you are getting the actual code that allows YOU to set up your own services. Anyone with a server can become a service provider and offer both hosting and software access. And they can expand on this without having to ask permission or pay through the nose.

So it’s a little bit bigger than first meets the eye.

I Move In Mysterious Ways ..

Roughly 3 weeks ago I was busy preparing the monthly updates.

Since each tier is separate but also covers everything before it (like explained above) I have to prepare a set of inclusive updates. The good news is that I only have to do this once and then add it as an attachment to my posts. Once added I can check of all the backers in that tier. I don’t have to manually email each backer, physically copy my songs or creations onto CD and send it – we live in the digital age as members of the global village. Or so i thought.

The LDEF assembler was made available on the 8th of february

So I published two of the minor cases first: the full HTML5 assembly program, that can be run both inside Amibian.js as a hosted application — or as a solo program directly in the browser. So here people can write machine-code in the browser, assemble it to bytecodes, run the code, inspect registers, disassemble the bytecodes and all the normal stuff you expect from an assembler.

This update was special because the program contained the IPC (inter process communication) layer that developers use to make their programs talk to the desktop. So for developers looking to make their own web programs access the filesystem, open dialogs (normal system features), that code was quite important to get!

Although published, none of my backers could see them due to the suspended status

The second post was a free addition, the QTX library which is an open-source RTL (run time library) compatible with the Smart Pascal Compiler. While not critical at this juncture, several of my backers use Smart Mobile Studio, and for them to get access to a whole new RTL that can be used for open-source, is very valuable indeed.

I was just about to compress the Amibian.js source-code and binaries when I got a message on Facebook by a backer:

“Dude, your Patreon is shut down, what is happening?”

What? hang on let me check i replied, and rushed into Patreon where the following header greeted me:

What the hell Patreon? I figured there must be some misunderstanding and that perhaps I missed an email or something that needed attention. I get close to 50 emails a day (literally) so it does happen that I miss one. I also check my spam folder regularly in case my google filters have been careless and flagged a serious email as spam. But there was nothing. Not a word.

Ok, so let’s check the page feedback, has there been any complaints? Perhaps a backer has misunderstood something and I need to clear that up? But nope. I had nothing but positive feedback and not even a single refund request.  In fact the Amibian.js group on Facebook has grown to 1,662 members. Which shows that the project itself holds considerable interest outside software development circles.

Well, let’s get on this quickly I thought, so I rushed off an email asking why Patreon would do such a thing? My entire Patreon page was visibly marked with the above banner, so my backers never even saw the updates I had issued.

Instead, the impression people would get, was that I was involved in something so devious that it demanded my account to be suspended. Talk about shooting first and asking later. I have never in my life seen such behavior from a company anywhere, especially not in the united states; Americans don’t take kindly to companies behaving like bullies.

Just Contact Support, If You Can Find Them

To make a long story short it took over a week before Patreon replied to my emails. I sent a total of 3 emails asking what on earth would have prompted them to shut down a successful campaign. And how they found it necessary to slander the project without even informing me of the problem. Surely a phone call could have sorted this up in minutes? Where I come from you pick up the phone or get in contact with people before you flag them in public.

Sounds great, sadly it’s pure fiction

The response I got was that “some mysterious activity had been reported on my page”, and that they wanted my name, address, phone number and credit card (4 last digits). Which I found funny because with the exception of credit-card details, I always put my name, address, phone numbers and email etc. at the head of my letters.

I’m not a 16-year-old kid working out of a garage, im a 46-year-old established software developer that have worked as a professional for close to 3 decades. Unlike the present generation I moved into my first apartment when I was 16, and was working as an author for various tech magazines by the time I was 17. I also finished college at the same time and went on to higher-education (2 years electrical engineering, 3 years arts and media, six years at the university in oslo, followed by 4 years of computer science and then certifications). The focus being, that Patreon is used to dealing with young creators that will go along with things that grown men would not accept.

But what really piss me off, was that they never even bothered to explain what this “mysterious behavior” actually was? I write about code, clustering, Delphi, JavaScript and bytecodes for christ sake. I might have published updates and code wearing a hoodie at one point, in a darken room, listening to Enigma.. but honestly: there is not enough mystery in my life to cover an episode of Scooby-Doo.

Either way, I provided the information they wanted and expected the problem to be resolved asap. Two days at themost. Maybe three, but that was pushing it.

It’s now close to 3 weeks since this ridiculous temporary suspension occurred, and neither have I been given any explanation to what I have done, nor have they removed the ban on the content. I must have read their guidelines 100 times by now, but given the nature of their ruling (which are more than reasonable), I can’t see that I have violated a single one:

• No pornography and adult content
• No hate speech against minorities or forms of religious extremism
• No piracy or spreading copyrighted material
• No stealing from backers

Let’s go over them one by one shall we?

Pornography and adult content

Seriously? I don’t have time to loaf around glaring at naked women (i’m a geek, I look weird enough as it is), and after 46 years on this planet I know what a woman looks like nude from every possible angle; I don’t need to run around like a retard posting pictures of body parts. And if you are talking about me — good lord is there a marked for hobbits? Surely the world has enough on it’s plate. Sorry, never been huge on porn.

And for the record, porn is for teenagers and singles. The moment you love someone deeply, the moment you have children together — it changes you profoundly. You get a bond to your wife or girlfriend that makes you not want to be with others. Not all men are into smut, some of us are invested more deeply in a relationship.

Hate speech and religious extremism

Hm, that’s a tough one (sigh). Did you know that one of my best friends is so gay – that he began to speculated that he actually was a liquid? He makes me laugh so bad and he’s probably the best human being I have ever met. I actually went with him on Pride last year, not because i’m gay but because he needed someone to hold the other side of the banner. That’s what friends do. Besides, I looked awesome, what can I say.

As for religion I am a registered Tibetan Buddhist. I believe in fluffy pillows, comfy robes, mother nature and quite frankly I find the world inside us far more interesting than the mess outside. You cant be extreme in Buddhism: “Be kind now, or ill hug you until you weep the tears of compassion!”. Buddhism sucks as an extreme doctrine.

So I’m going to go out on a limb and say nuuuu to both.

Piracy and copyrighted material

Eh, I’m kinda writing the software from scratch before your eyes (including the run-time-library for the compiler), so as far as worthy challenges go, piracy would be the opposite. I am a huge fan of classical operating-systems though, like the Amiga; But unlike most people I actually took the time to ask permission to use a OS4 inspired CSS theme-file.

The Amibian.js project is well organized and I have worked systematically through a well planned architecture. This is not some slap-dash project made for a quick buck

Most people just create a theme-file and don’t bother to ask. I did, and Trevor Dickinson was totally cool about it. And not a single byte has been taken or stolen from anyone. The default theme file is inspired by Amiga OS 4.1, but the thing is: the icons are all freeware. Mason, the guy that did the OS icons, have released large sets of icons into GPL. There is also a website called OS4Depot where people publish icons and backdrops that are free for all.

So if this “mysterious activity” is me posting a picture of a picture (not a typo) of an obscure yet loved operating-system, rest assured that it’s not violating anyone.

Stealing from backers

That they even include this as a point is just monumental. Patreon is a service established to make that impossible (sigh); meaning that the time-frame where you deliver updates or whatever – and the time when the payout is delivered, that is the window where backers can file a complaint or demand a refund.

And yes, complaints on fraud would indeed (and should!) flag the account as potentially dubious — but again, I have not a single complaint. Not even a refund request, which I believe is pretty uncommon.

And even if this was the case, shutting down an account without so much as a dialog in 2019? Who the hell becomes a thief for 600 dollars? Im not some kid in a garage, I make twice that a day as a consultant in Oslo, why the heck would I setup a public account in the US, only to run off with 600 bucks! I have standing offers for projects continuously, I havent applied for a job since the 90s – so if I needed some extra money I would have taken a side project.

I even posted to let my backers know I had a cold last month just to make sure everyone knew in case I was unavailable for a couple of days. Truly the tell-tell sign of a criminal mastermind if I ever saw one ..

Sorry Patreon, but your behavior is unacceptable

Hopefully your experience with Patreon has not been like mine. They spent somewhere in the range of 5 weeks just to register me, while friends of mine in the US was up and running in less than 2 days.

We are now 3 weeks into a temporary suspension, which means that most of my backers will run out of patience and just leave. It sends a signal of being whimsical about other people’s trust, and that people take a risk if they back my project.

At this point it doesn’t matter that none of these thoughts are true, because they are thoughts that anyone would think when a project remains flagged for so long.

What should scare you as a creator with Patreon though, is that they can do this to anyone. There is nothing you can do, neither to prove your innocence or sort out a misunderstanding — because you are not even told what you allegedly have done wrong. I also find it alarming that Patreon actually doesn’t have a phone-number listed, nor do they have offices you can call or reach out to.

The irony is that Patreon doesn’t even pass their own safety tests. That should make you think twice about their operation. I had heard the rumors about them, but I honestly did not believe a company could operate like this in our day and age. Especially not in the united states. It undermines the whole spirit of US as a technological hub. No wonder people are setting up shop in China instead, if this is how they are treated in the valley.

After this long, and the damage they have caused, I have no option than to inform my backers to terminate their pledges. I will have to relocate my project to a host that has more experience with software development, and who treats human beings with common decency and respect.

If I by accident had violated any of their guidelines, although I cannot see how I could have, I have no problem taking responsibility. But when you are shut down without so much as an explanation, with nothing but positive feedback, zero refunds and over 1682 people actively following the progress — that is utterly unacceptable.

It is a great shame. Patreon symbolized, for a short time, that the global village had matured into more than an idea. But I categorically refuse to be treated like this and find their modus-operandi insulting.

Stay Well Clear

If you as a developer have a chance to set up shop elsewhere, then I urge you to do so. And make sure your host have common infrastructure such as a phone number. Patreon have taken the art of avoiding direct contact to a whole new level. It is absolutely mind-boggling.

I honestly don’t think Patreon understands software development at all. Many have voiced more sinister motives for my shutdown, since the project obviously is a threat to various companies. But I don’t believe in conspiracies. Although, if Patreon does this to enough creators on interval, the interest rates from holding the assets would be substantial.

It could be that the popularity of the project grew so fast that it was picked up as a statistical anomaly, but surely that should be a good thing? Not to mention a potential case study Patreon could have used as a success story? I mean, Amibian.js didn’t get up and running until october, so stopping a project 5 months into a 12 month timeline makes absolutely no sense. Unless someone did this on purpose.

Either way, this has been a terrible experience and I truly hope Patreon get’s their act together. They could have resolved this with a phone-call, yet chose to let it fester for almost a month.

Their loss.

Hyperion vs Cloanto, the longest running lawsuit in the history of computing?

Delphi and C++ builder developers will probably not have much interest in this, but as far as general IT news goes, this one is attracting interest far and wide due to the sheer absurdity involved. To be honest I also think that the case itself serves as a warning to companies and developers in general, because this truly is the best example of how bad things can go if you don’t manage your patents and rights properly.

So while I’m loving Delphi’s 24th birthday festivities, I find the ongoing lawsuits so amazing that I have to write a few words.

[Edit]: To make the case even remotely understandable for people that have never read about it before, I have left out a ton of details. The whole Amiga Inc scandal (which I believe ordered production of OS4 to begin with?), Eyetech, H&P, the loss of the Amiga OS 3.9 source code. The gist of the post here is not to dig into the details (also known as “the rabbit hole” in the community), but to give a short recount of the highlights leading up to the present situation – and to underline that people who still care for the system, the Amiga community, is beyond fed-up with this. I hope all parties get their act together and find a way to co-exist.  For those that want to dig into the gory details spanning three decades, there is always the Amiga documentation project.

Some context

Long story short, back in the early 90s Commodore, a company that for close to two decades ranked as a giant of computing, collapsed. Years of mismanagement, poor leadership, if not outright shameful, had taken its toll on the once fierce giant; And as the saying goes: the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And boy did Commodore fall.

Commodore ranked side-by side with the biggest names in the industry

What people often forget is that tech-companies have two types of currencies. The first is what consumers consider valuable; things like the products they make, how much money is in the bank, the state of their inventory, good partners and retailers — all points of importance when running a business.

Major players though couldn’t care less about these factors, not unless they align with their own needs. So from a PC company’s perspective, getting rid of the Amiga and butchering Commodore for patents was a spectacular win. Because, and here we get into the nasty parts: for an already established competitor, a dead tech company has one asset and one asset only: namely their patent-portfolio.

So all that buying and selling we saw in the 90s, with Amiga changing hands left and right, had nothing to do with saving the Amiga. The Commodore legacy was reduced to a piece of meat and thrownto the wolves, each ripping into its patents left and right. So while graphic, the piece of meat in this analogy held an estimated value of a billion dollars.

Patents are valuable because they represent repeated income and a level of financial security unline ordinary currency. Large companies use patent portfolios in combination with their insurance. IBM is more or less the archetypical example of this. They remain one of the richest companies in the world, but spend their time tinkering with super-computers and science experiments. “Big Blue” haven’t “worked” in the true sense of the word since they started licensing out PC as a platform. They own the patents for pretty much everything we know as a PC today, and don’t need to compete. They make a fortune just sitting there.

Climbing up the rabbit hole

Gateway and Escom both tried to save themselves using the Amiga patents, but they failed

When Commodore fell, the vultures moved in quickly. People have focused so much on the Amiga computer and branding aspect of Commodore, that we often neglect that the true value of such a giant was never the end-product, but the intrinsic values of their patents and technological inventions.

Very few knew the identity of the party now in possession of the Commodore patent portfolio until quite recently. It caused quite a stir online when I published the name of the owner last year (both on this blog and Amiga Disrupt on Facebook).

Just to underline: this information have never been secret or anything of the sorts. It’s just a type of information ordinary people wouldn’t know where to find (myself included). You have to know where to look and what to look for. And while I have some experience with copyright cases and intellectual property – I would never have found it without a heart to heart with Trevor Dickinson. The major shareholder in Aeon, which produces the Next Generation Amiga system (x5000 and the upcoming A1222). He kindly helped me through the avalanche of older court documents and pointed me to an article series in AF Magazine that I had no idea even existed.

I should also stress that I have no special friendship with Trevor. I have talked to him on various occasions and we share a passion for the Amiga system. He has always been very kind, but I don’t know him personally. Nothing I write here is done in his favour or out of some form of loyalty. I simply find that A-EON and Hyperion’s plans and products makes the most sense in 2019.

When the mysterious owner of Commodore and Amiga turned out to be Acer my jaw dropped. They had been sitting on the patents for all these years without making a sound. From Acer’s point of view the Amiga computer is worthless and they wouldn’t give a cup of coffee for the Amiga name or its legacy. So the Amiga name and legacy code was sold off long ago. Acer handles technological patents that commodore deviced, from PET to 3A no doubt. Amiga as a platform is uninteresting to them.

How Acer got a hold of the portfolio can only be speculated on, but I would imagine they snapped them up when Escom went under. How much of the original portfolio remains intact is anyone’s guess. The classical Amiga OS source-code was, as we know, acquired by Hyperion from Amiga Inc years ago. That was the 3.1 version. Interestingly the 3.9 version was bought by H&P (a german company) and was sadly lost when they existed the Amiga market permanently.

Workbench and hipsters

For those that haven’t read or followed up on the “Commodore case”, the license holders mentioned above (A-EON, Hyperion, Cloanto), have been at each other’s throats since the brits annexed India. Which is why this case has become interesting for others as well.

Nobody under 33 years of age would associate this with Commodore or Amiga.

To give you some examples of the epic battles at hand: they have argued in court over the right to use a checkered bathing ball, you know those you can buy almost anywhere and that resemble a french table-cloth? Oh yes I kid ye not.

They have gone to court over the misuse of said bathing apparatus, the misrepresentation of the ball, who owns the ball, it’s buoyancy – and let us not forget trademarking the word “Workbench” (the name of the desktop system the Amiga uses). A word today only used by hipsters in meth-labs and tool-time-tim wannabe’s on YouTube. The absurdities are so dense you could bottle them.

If we look at the many struggles since Commodore went under from a bird’s eye perspective, we are essentially seeing the same lawsuit on infinite repeat (with a few variations here and there). I got married, I had kids and 15 years later I got divorced. And when I got back they were still at it! Good god guys, what a complete and utter waste of time, resources and talent (The lawsuits not my marriage. Well maybe both), not to mention counter productive! If anything these frequent lawsuits are destroying what both parties are trying to protect. Although I question if one of them indeed are.

If I was to go back to school and re-invent myself, I would become an author. All I had to do to was take the Commodore story and place it in middle-earth, give the people involved pointy ears, brutal weaponry and silly names and voila! A tale that would make Tolkien himself weep; because great as his imagination was, never could he have concocted such a story. Not even Keith Richards if we let him loose in a pharmacy on “take all the drugs you can carry day” – could make up a timeline as insane as the Commodore aftermath.

Lawsuits 1-0-1: Que bono?

To catch you up with the present events, let’s just go through the basics first.

It can be difficult to distinguish between Hyperion and Aeon, so lets start with a few words about that. Hyperion is ultimately a software company. They started (if I recall correctly) as software house porting PC games to the Amiga platform.

I previously wrote that Trevor was the major shareholder in both companies, that was actually wrong, he holds a very small role in Hyperion. But who owns what here is ultimately pointless. The relationship between Hyperion and A-EON is that Hyperion represents the software branch, and A-EON is the hardware branch. And combined they make out the owners and producers of what is commonly called “Next Generation” Amiga machines.

A-EON and Hyperion hold the rights to develop Amiga OS, covering both the classical 68k version and the NG models which are PPC based. Cloanto have only sales rights, which are limited to the legacy 68k ROM kernel files, and workbench. That is ultimately what separates these two groups. So even though there are 3 companies involved, it’s easier to regard them as two separate entities.

And yes we could argue that OS4 was instigated by Amiga Inc earlier, but i’m trying to keep this readable for people that haven’t read anything about this silliness before, so i’m skipping all of that.

Amiga OS is loved by many, but to be frank it’s reached the point that fighting over it has long since passed. A teenager today knows PSX, XBox and completely different brands

Until recently Aeon and Hyperion have focused completely on their Next Generation system. Aeon creates the hardware and Hyperion does the software. Hyperion also offers the older legacy roms and Workbench in their webshop. But until recently they have been more interested in selling next-generation software and machines.

Cloanto have been exclusively about legacy. They have no license that involves software development, and are for all means an purposes a retro retailer (or undertaker if you will). They sell old Commodore stuff, and that’s it. So while they have argued like cats and dogs over absolutely everything, like that worthless boing ball and the name “workbench”, they at least managed to co-exist somehow.

That was, until Hyperion listened to the Amiga Community and released an update for the 68k platform. Which is perfectly within their rights to do. They have a license that covers both 68k and PPC. Acer has set a clause (from what I can tell) that they are not allowed to touch x86, but as far as 68k and PPC is concerned — Hyperion is well within their rights to issue an update. After all they own the source-code for Amiga OS 3.1 which I mentioned above, Cloanto does not.

The response from the community was quite frankly outstanding. Finally a proper update for both Workbench and the kernel! Everyone was ecstatic and the whole scene was filled with positive hopes that things were finally moving forward. This was after all the first real update since Napoleon was in office!

Cloanto however, not so much. Because even though they share the sales license with Aeon, they have no rights to the new software created. They don’t make a penny on the new 68k kernel (rom files) or the new Workbench. They can continue to sell the older variations of Amiga OS, but they have no legal right to software written and issued in 2018. Cloanto responded like they always have, by issuing a lawsuit.

So the reason Cloanto took Hyperion to court for the 13th thousand time, has nothing to with open-source (a rumour that was planted before Xmas). It is motivated purely by greed and the fear that the Amiga might actually spring back to life.

And this is where we get to the nasty parts

Legacy software undertakers

Legacy software is not unlike the undertaking business

First of all, and I want to make this crystal clear: Cloanto’s entire business model rests on the Amiga remaining dead. In a bizarre twist of irony, the self-proclaimed caretakers of Amiga actually face financial ruin if the Amiga ever became popular or rose from the grave. Stop and think about that for a moment: They make money on the Amiga remaining a dead system.

The only product Cloanto have actually produced, is a pixel paint program called PPaint, which was awesome back in the previous century.

The state of affairs for the past 18 years, is that Cloanto depends completely an emulator, UAE, short for “The Unix Amiga Emulator”, when it comes to the Amiga . Which ironically is not Cloanto’s work at all, but an emulator created by Bernd Schmidt, Toni Wilen and Mathias Ortmann; neither have received a penny despite Cloanto profiting on their work for close to two decades (!)

The selling of legacy Commodore software I have no problem with at all. But what bakes my noodle is forking UAE and selling it for profit without giving something back to its original authors? I have yet to see the source-code for Amiga Forever on Github for example? The laws of GPL are pretty straight forward. I’m not saying that the source code does not exist, i’m simply saying that Cloanto has gone out of their way to keep it hidden.

Sure it may be legal but I find it somewhat tasteless. profiting on UAE for all those years, and not even a symbolic sum for the guys that keep UAE going? I mean, had they actively participated and contributed to the UAE codebase I would have applauded them for it. Sadly Cloanto presents itself as a blatant opportunist more than a preserver. They say one thing, but their actions speak of something else entirely.

And don’t get me wrong, Hyperion and Aeon have more than enough mistakes on file. But when comparing Hyperion’s mistakes against Cloanto, remembering that these two have an obligation to represent the Amiga legacy to the best of their ability — you cannot help notice that they are worlds apart. Hyperion is producing new software, Aeon new hardware, and they have even given the much loved 68k systems a do-over.

This where I get a bit worked up – because Cloanto have nothing to do with software or hardware development. It is quite frankly none of their business (in the true sense of the word). They have licensed the old kernel and Workbench; they have also bought the C64 roms – and that is where their role ends. Yet they spend more time trying to obstruct Hyperion (and by consequence, Aeon) at every step of the way.

While I have no idea who sits on the c64 rights these days, the c64-mini has sold in good numbers around the world. Since Cloanto is the only company with c64 rights I presume they have cashed in on that? Like always it’s hard to tell, because there are more than one company that claim to sit on pieces of the true Commodore legacy.

So to sum up: we have one side producing new hardware, new software and doing updates which is their obligation and right. And we have another party who has created nothing, including the heart of their business, demanding a cut of something they shouldn’t even be involved in (!)

Greed, the mother of invention

Cloanto’s motives should be pretty obvious by now, but let’s hash through it.

With a new Workbench and kernel out in the wild, Cloanto find themselves in a difficult position. Who would want to buy an older kernel or Workbench when there is a newer, 2018 version available? Well, I would like all of them to be honest, but yes I obviously want to use the new versions as much as possible.

The A1222 was due out Q1 2018. It remains on hold until the lawsuits are finished. Keeping Hyperion and Aeon in court is a matter of survival for Cloanto at this point

But that alone is not enough to explain Cloanto’s panic-stricken behavior. They could welcome the new update and simply license it, like they should because they have no right to another companies work.

Instead they run out and buys the remnants of that company I mentioned earlier, Amiga Inc, which is a straw company that has a terrible reputation involving fraud and investor scams. A company that for some magical reason had the right to the name “Amiga” (like that holds any value in 2018, good lord what are you people doing) and sat on the source-code for the OS. This is the same source-code that Hyperion ended up buying, which is no doubt the foundation for the update before xmas.

Why would they go to such lengths as to secure a superficial paper-tiger like Amiga Inc? Trying to reverse the process? Looking to hijack the Amiga names? What gives? It’s almost like Cloanto is looking for something to fight over, desperate to keep Hyperion in court for as long as possible.

And why would they refuse to sell 2000 roms to myself and Gunnar to make ready-to-use Amiga “mini” machines? If I didnt know better, they are brewing on something. The market is just ripe for retro, and their behavior towards us hints that they are not very happy about Amibian’s existence.

It makes even more sense when you factor in the long-awaited A1222. A whole new Amiga that Aeon and Hyperion is 100% invested in bringing to market.

The Amiga A1222 is a Next Generation PPC Amiga that should retail at around USD 450. This product was supposed to reach the market in Q1 2018, but with the lawsuit(s) and drain on funds, getting the product out the door has been impossible. So much so that Cloanto is now damaging Hyperion (and Aeon) by proxy.

Around Xmas 2018 Cloanto began spreading the rumor that they were fighting to “open source Amiga OS”. That is a blatant lie and I was tempted to write a piece there and then, but I have been busy with work. I also thought Amiga users wouldn’t fall for such an evident lie, but some people actually cheer Cloanto on — believing that Cloanto can somehow “help” the Amiga platform. For Christ sake, Cloanto doesn’t even have the source-code – much less the right to open source Hyperion and Acer’s intellectual property. Buying the remnants of Amiga Inc might be an attempt to buy credibility, but its 20 years too late.

The present legalities are, to be blunt, nothing more than a diversion designed to keep the A1222 out of the marketplace. The question is: why and will they try to replace it with something?

Although the motives are now painfully visible, so much so that it might as well be lit up in neon – I think Amiga fans should be very careful where they place their trust. I am sorry but I would not trust Cloanto with a stick of gum, much less the computing legacy of a giant like Commodore. And they are brewing on something, either directly or indirectly, mark my words.

Normally I don’t take sides, but I seriously hope Cloanto wakes up and realize that they are right now, and have been for some time, the spearhead that is keeping the platform in limbo. I have nothing against them personally, but we have now passed the point of no return. You are now risking the codebase of a system that thousands of people care for.

I think I speak for quite a few when I say: Enough! Put that energy, time and money into making something – because whatever you guys started arguing over, is long gone.

There is a whole generation that has grown up without any knowledge of Amiga. Who have no clue what Commodore was and represented. So while you guys have been fighting about who gets to sit where, the boat has left and you missed it.

Final words

You know why I find the most annoying about the situation Cloanto have created? Hear me out here.

Sun Microsystems spent a fortune drumming up support for Java, selling people on a lofty dream where a whole operating-system would be written as bytecodes. And that in special hardware would be made so that bytecodes could run anywhere. Because said bytecodes would be portable between platforms even, and solve the problem with platform bound software once and for all. Companies pumped billions into that dream, yet for all their wealth and power, they failed.

Meanwhile Cloanto, and by extension Hyperion, have had access to UAE since the 90s. A system that embody all the traits that Sun Microsystems attempted to create, and all they have done is to add a menu to it. They have wasted close to two decades without realizing that UAE is that holy grail that Sun Microsystems failed to deliver.

68k machine-code is bytecodes if you execute it on another system. And the distinctions between “virtual machine” and “emulator” are ultimately conceptual – not factual. UAE could have been adjusted as a virtual machine. There you have the compilers, the ecosystem and all the pieces you would need to deliver a portable, blistering fast software deployment system that is truly platform independent.

So, Cloanto, you have been sitting on a gold mine. And you didn’t recognize it because you were too busy arguing over balls, chicken-lip logos, old roms and god knows what else.

You have had solid gold for ages, but you were too busy arguing over names to see it

I sincerely hope Acer takes an active role in their licensing, because as far as I can see, Cloanto is not acting in Acer’s financially best interest (nor Hyperion’s for that matter, which last time I checked can withhold all and any changes to their OS, leaving Cloanto with the dry bones from the past) – and they have become, unless they perform a complete makeover before their next lawsuit, unfit to manage the intellectual property and licenses they have acquired.

You don’t have a developer license, so stick to the legacy stuff and stop getting in the way of those that do.

And for christ sake give the guys who make UAE a percentage, it is tasteless and ugly to watch this level of greed. Seriously.

Five reasons to learn Delphi

A couple of days ago I had a spectacular debate on Facebook. Like most individuals that are active in the IT community, my social media feed is loaded with advertisement for every trending IT concept you can imagine. Lately these adverts have been about machine learning and A.I. Or should I say, companies using those buzzwords to draw unwarranted attention to their products. I haven’t seen A.I used to sell shoes yet, but it’s only a matter of time before it happens.

Like any technology, Cloud is only as powerful as your insight

There is also this thing that: yes, a 14-year-old can put together an A.I chat robot in 15 minutes with product XYZ. But that doesn’t mean he or she understands what is happening beneath the user-interface. Surely the goal must be to teach those kids skills that will benefit them for a lifetime.

Those that know me also know that yes, I have this tendency to say what I mean, even when I really should keep my mouth shut. On the other hand that is also why companies and developers call me, because I will call bullshit and help them avoid it. That’s part of my job, to help individuals and companies that use Delphi to pick the right version for their need, get the components that’s right for their goals – and map out a strategy if they need some input on that.  I’ll even dive in and do some code conversion if they need it; goes with the territory.

Normally I just ignore advertizing that put “cloud” or “a.i” in their title, because it’s mostly click-bait designed for non-developers. But for some reason this one particular advert caught my eye. Perhaps it triggered the trauma of being subjected to early Java advertising during the late 90s’s, or maybe it released latent aggression from being psychologically waterboarded by Microsoft Silverlight. Who knows 🙂

The ad was about a Norwegian company that specialize in teaching young students how to become professional developers. You know the “become a guru in 3 weeks” type publisher? What baked my noodle was the fact that they didn’t offer a single course involving archetypical languages, and that they were spinning their material with promises that were simply not true. The only artificial intelligence involved was the advertizing engine at Facebook.

The thing is – the world has more than enough developers on desktop level. The desktop and web market is drowning in developers who has the capacity to download libraries, drop components on a form and hook up to a database. What the world really needs are more developers on archetypical languages. And if you don’t know what that is, then let me just do a quick summary before we carry on.

Archetypal languages

An archetypical programming language is one that is designed around how the computer actually works. As a consequence these languages and toolchains embody several of the following properties:

• Pointers and raw memory access
• Traditional memory management, no garbage collection
• Procedural and object-orientation execution
• Inline assembler
• Little if no external dependencies
• Static linking (embed pre-compiled code)
• Compiled code can operate without an OS infrastructure
• Suitable for kernel, driver, service, desktop, networking and cloud level development
• Compiler that produce machine code for various chipsets

As of writing there are only two archetypical languages (actually 3, but assembly language is chipset specific so we will skip that here), namely C/C++ and Object Pascal. These are the languages you use to write all the other languages with. If you plan on writing your own operating-system from scratch, only C and Pascal is suitable. Which is why these are the only languages that have ever been used for making operating systems.

Delphi is one of the 20 most used programming languages in the world. It ranked as #11 in 2017. Like all rankings it fluctuates depending on season and market changes.

Obviously i’m not suggesting that people learn Delphi or C++ builder to write their own OS – or that you must know assembly to make an invoice system; I’m simply stating that the insight and skill you get from learning Delphi and C/C++, even if all you do is write desktop applications – will make you a better developer on all levels.

Optimistic languages

Optimistic or humanized programming languages, have been around just as long as the archetypical ones. Basic is an optimistic language, C# and Java are optimistic languages, Go and Dart are equally optimistic languages. Script engines like node.js, python and Erlang (if you missed Scott Hanselman’s epic rant on the subject, you are in for a treat) are all optimistic. They are called optimistic because they trade security with functionality; sandboxing the developer from the harsh reality of hardware.

An optimistic language is typically designed to function according to “how human beings would like things to be” (hence the term optimistic). These languages rely heavily on existing infrastructure to even work, and each language tends to focus on specific tasks – only to branch out and become more general purpose over time.

There is nothing wrong with optimistic languages. Except when they are marketed to young students as being somehow superior or en-par with archetypical languages. That is a very dangerous thing to do – because teachers have a responsibility to prepare the students for real life. I can’t even count the number of times I have seen young developers fresh out of college get “that job”, only to realize that the heart of the business, the mission critical stuff, is written in Delphi or C/C++, which they never learned.

People have no idea just how much of the modern world rests on these languages.  It is almost alarming how it’s possible to be a developer in 2019 and have a blind spot with regards to these distinctions. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the student’s fault, quite the opposite. And i’m happy that things are starting to change for the better (more about that further down).

The original full stack

So back to my little encounter; What happened was that I just commented something along the lines of “why not give the kids something that will benefit them for a lifetime”. It was just a drive-by comment on my part, and I should have just ignored it; And no sooner had I pressed enter, when a small army of internet warriors appeared to defend their interpretation of “full stack” in 2019. Oblivious to the fact that the exact same term was used around 1988-ish. I think it was Aztec or SAS-C that coined it. Doesn’t matter.

The original “full stack” holds a very different meaning in traditional development. While I don’t remember if it was Aztec-C or SAS-C, but the full stack was driver to desktop 🙂

Long story short, I ended up having a conversation with these teenagers about how technology has evolved over the past 35 years. Not in theory, but as one that has been a programmer since the C= 64 was released. I also introduced them to archetypal languages and pinpointed the distinction I made above. You cannot compare if you don’t know the difference.

I have no problems with other languages, I use several myself, and my point was simply that: if we are going to teach the next generation of programmers something, then let’s teach them the timeless principles and tools that our eco system rests on. We need to get Delphi and C/C++ back into the curriculum, because that in turn will help the students to become better developers. It doesn’t matter what they end up working with afterwards, because with the fundamental understanding in place they will be better suited. Period.

You will be a better Java developer if you first learn Delphi. You will be a better C# developer if you learn Delphi. Just like nature has layers of complexity, so does computing. And understanding how each layer works and what laws exist there – will have a huge impact on how you write high-level code.

All of this was good and well and the internet warriors seemed a bit confused. They weren’t prepared for an actual conversation. So what started a bit rough ended up as a meaningful, nice dialog.

And speaking of education: I’m happy to say that two universities in Norway now have students using Delphi again. Which is a step in the right direction! People are re-discovering how productive Object-Pascal is, and why the language remains the bread and butter of so many companies around the world.

Piracy, the hydra of problems

What affected me the most during my conversation with these young developers – was that they had almost no relationship to neither Delphi or C/C++. From an educational standpoint that is not just alarming, that is an intellectual emergency. The only knowledge they had of Delphi was hearsay and nonsense.

The source of the misrepresentation is piracy, openly so, of outdated versions that was never designed to run on modern operating systems. With the community edition people can enjoy a modern, high performance Delphi without resorting to illegal activities

But after a while I finally discovered where their information came from! Delphi 7 is being pirated en-mass even to this day. It’s for some strange reason very popular in Asia (most of the torrent IP’s ended up there when I followed up on this). So teenagers download Delphi 7 which is ancient by any standard, and the first thing they experience is incompatibility issues. Which is only to be expected because Delphi 7 was released a long, long time ago. But that’s the impression they are left with after downloading one of these cracked, illegal bundles.

I downloaded one of these “ready to use” bundles to have a closer look, and it contained at least 500 commercial components. You had the full TMS component collection, Developer Express, Remobjects SDK, ImageEN, FastReports, SecureBlackBox, Intraweb — tens of thousands of dollars worth of code. With one very obvious factor: both Delphi 7 and the components involved are severely outdated. Microsoft doesn’t even support Windows XP any more, it was written in the early bronze age.

So the reality of the situation was that these young developers had never seen a modern Delphi in their life. In their minds, Delphi meant Delphi 7 which they could download almost everywhere (which is illegal and riddled with viruses, stay well clear). No wonder there is confusion about the subject (!)

They were very happy to learn about the community edition, so in the end I at least got to wake them up to the awesome features that modern Delphi represents. The community edition has been a fantastic thing; the number of members joining Delphi-Developer on Facebook has nearly doubled since the community edition was released.

A few of the students went over to Embarcadero and downloaded the community edition, and their jaw dropped. They had never seen a development environment like this before!

Give me five good reasons to learn Delphi

In light of this episode, thought I could share five reasons why Delphi and object-pascal remains my primary programming language.

I don’t have any problems dipping into JavaScript, Python or whatever the situation might call for – but when it comes to mission critical data processing and services that needs 24/7 up-time; or embedded solutions where CPU spikes simply cannot be tolerated. It’s Delphi I turn to.

These five reasons are also the same that I gave the teenagers. So here goes.

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Great depth and wingspan

Object Pascal, from which Delphi is the trending dialect, is a fantastic language. At heart there is little difference between C/C++ and object pascal in terms of features, but the syntax of object pascal is more productive than C/C++ (IMHO).

Delphi and C++ builder actually share run-time libraries (there are two of them, the VCL which is Windows only, and Firemonkey which is platform independent). Developers often mix and match code between these languages, so components written in Delphi can be used in C++ builder, and libraries written in C can be consumed and linked into your Delphi executable.

One interesting factoid: people imagine Delphi to be old. But the C language is actually 3 years older than pascal. During their time these languages have evolved side by side, and Embarcadero (who makes Delphi and C++ builder) have brought all the interesting features you expect from a modern language into Delphi (things like generics, inline variables, anonymous procedures – it’s all in there). So this myth that Delphi is somehow outdated or unsuitable is just that – a myth.

The eco-system of programming languages

And there is an added bonus! Just like C/C++, Delphi represents a curriculum and lineage that spans decades. Stop and think about that for a second. This is a language that has been evolved to solve technical challenges of every conceivable type for decades. This means that you can put some faith in what the language can deliver.

There are millions of Delphi developers in the world; an estimated 10 millions in fact. The language was ranked #11 on the TIOBI language index; it is under constant development with a clear roadmap and time-line – and is used by large and small companies as the foundation for their business. Even the Norwegian government rely on Delphi. The system that handles healthcare messages for the Norwegian population is pure Delphi.  That is data processing for 5.2 million individuals.

Object Pascal has not just stood the test of time, it has innovated it. Just like C/C++ object pascal has a wingspan and depth that reaches from assembler to system services, from database engines to visual desktop application – and from the desktop all the way to Cloud and essential web technology.

So the first good reason to learn Delphi is depth. Delphi covers the native stack, from kernel level drivers to high-speed database engines – to visual desktop applications. It’s also exceptionally well suited for cloud services (both Windows and Linux targets).

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Easy to learn

I mention that Delphi is powerful and has the same depth as C/C++, but why then learn Delphi and not C++? Well, the language (object pascal) was especially tailored for readability. It was concluded that the human brain recognized words faster than symbols or glyphs – and thus it’s easier to read complex pascal code rather than complex C code. Individual taste notwithstanding.

Despite its depth, Delphi is easy to learn and fun to master!

Object Pascal is also very declarative, with as little unknown factors as possible. This teaches people to write clean and orderly code.

And perhaps my favorite, a pascal code-file contains both interface and implementation. So you don’t have to write a second .h file which is common under C/C++.

If you already know OOP, be it Java, C#, Rust or whatever – learning Delphi will be a piece of cake. You already know about classes, interfaces, generics, operator overloading – and can pretty much skip forward to memory management, pointers and structures (records in pascal, struct in C).

Swing by Embarcadero Academy and take a course, or head over to Amazon and buy some good books on Delphi. Download the Community Edition of Delphi and you will be up and running in no-time.

Also remember to join Delphi Developer on Facebook, where thousands of active developers talk, help each other and share solutions 24/7.

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Target multiple platforms

With Delphi and C++ builder it’s pretty easy to target multiple platforms these days. You can target Android, iOS, OS X, Windows and Linux from a single codebase.

One codebase, multiple targets

I mean, are you going to write one version of your app in Java, a second one in C#, a third one in Objective C and a fourth in Dart? Because that’s the reality you face if plan on using the development tools provided by each operating-system manufacturer. That’s a lot of time, money and effort just to push your product out the door.

With Delphi you can hit all platforms at once, native code, reducing your time to market and ROI. People use Delphi for a reason.

You will also enjoy great performance from the LLVM optimized code Delphi emits on mobile platforms.

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Rich codebase

The benefit of age is often said to be wisdom; I guess the computing equivalent is a large and rich collection of components, libraries and ad-hoc code that you can drop into your own projects or just study.

You can google just about any subject, and there will be code for Delphi. Github, BitBucket and Torry’s Delphi pages are packed with open-source frameworks covering everything from compiler cores, midi interfaces, game development to multi-threaded, machine clustered server solutions. Once you start looking, you will find it.

There is a rich constellation of code, components and libraries for Delphi and C++ builder around the internet.  Also remember dedicated sites like Torry’s

There is also a long list of technology partners that produce components and libraries for Delphi – and like mentioned earlier, you can link in C compiled code once you learn the ropes.

Oh, and when I mentioned databases earlier I wasnt just talking about the traditional databases. Delphi got you covered with those, no worries — im also talking about writing a database engine from scratch. There are several database engines that are implemented purely in Delphi. ElevateDB is one example.

Delphi also ships with Interbase and Interbase-light (embedded and mobile) so you have easy access to data storage solutions. There is also FireFAC that allows you to connect directly with established databases — and again, a wealth of free and commercial solutions.

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Speed and technique

What I love about Delphi and C++ is that your code, or the way you write code, directly impacts your results. The art of optimization is rarely a factor in some of the new, optimistic languages. But in a native language you get to use traditional techniques that are time-less, or perhaps more interesting: explore ways of achieving the same with less.

As a native language Delphi and C/C++ produce fast executables. But I love how there is always room for your own techniques, your own components and your own libraries.

Techniques, like math, is timeless

Need to write a system driver? Well, suddenly speed becomes a very important factor. A garbage collector can be a disaster on that level, because it will kick-in on interval and cause CPU spikes. Perhaps you want to write a compiler, or need a solid scripting engine? How about linking the V8 JavaScript engine directly into your programs? All of this is quite simple with Delphi.

So with Delphi I get the best of both worlds, I get to use the scalpel when the needs are delicate, and I get the chain-saw to cut through tedious work. Things like property bindings are a god sent. This is a techniques where you can visually bind properties of any component together, almost like events, and create cause and effect chains. So if a value changes on a bound property, that triggers whatever is bound, and so on and so on — pretty awesome!

So you can create a complete database application, with grid and navigation, without writing a single line of code. That was just one simple example, you can do so much more out of the box – and it saves you so much time.

Yet when you really need to write high performance code, or build that killer framework that will set your company apart from the rest — you have that freedom!

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So if you havent checked out RAD Studio, head over to Embarcadero and download a free trial. You will be amazed and realize just why Delphi and C++ builder are loved by so many.

Delphi “real life” webinars

I got some great news for everyone!

For a while now we have been planning some Delphi community webinars. This will be a monthly webinar that has a slightly different format than what people are used to. The style of webinar will be live, laid back and with focus on real-life solutions that already exists, or that is being developed – talking directly to the developers and MVP’s involved.

There is so much cool happening in the Delphi, C++ builder and Sencha scene that I hardly know where to begin. But what better way to spread the good news than to talk directly with the people building the components, publishing the software, doing that book or rolling the frameworks?

In the group Delphi Developer on Facebook we have a very laid back style, one I hope to transpose onto the webinars. We keep things clean, have clear rules and the atmosphere is friendly and easy-going. There is room for jokes and off topic posts on the weekends, but above all: we are active, solution oriented developers.

Delphi Developer, although being small compared to the 6.5 million registered Delphi developers in the world (estimated object pascal use is closer to 10 million when factoring in alternative compilers), just reached 8000 active members. The growth rate for membership into our little corner of the world has really picked-up speed after the community edition. Seriously, it’s phenomenal to be a part of this. It’s more than doubled since 2017.

So there has never been a better time to do webinars on Delphi than right now 🙂

Making waves

Delphi has so much to offer

Two weeks ago I was informed that Delphi is once again being used by one of the largest Norwegian universities (!). That was an epic moment, because that is something we have worked hard to realize. I have been blogging, teaching and doing pro-bono work for a decade now to get the ball rolling – and seeing the community revitalize itself is spectacular!

I work like mad every day to help companies with strategies involving Delphi, showing them how they can use Delphi to strengthen their existing infrastructure; I connect developers to employers, do casual, drive-by headhunting, talk to component vendors — but education and awareness is what it’s all about. Your toolbox is only as useful as your knowledge of the tools. If you don’t know how or what a tool is, well then you probably wont use it much.

Making new developers aware of what Delphi is and what it can do is at the heart of this. Especially developers that work with other languages. The reality of 2019 is that companies use several languages to build their infrastructure, and it’s important that they understand how Delphi can co-exist and benefit their existing investment. So a fair share of my time is about educating developers from other eco-systems. Most of them are not prepared for the great depth and wingspan object pascal has, and are flabbergasted when the full scope of the product hits them. Only C++ and object pascal scales from kernel to cloud. That’s the real full stack right there.

Delphi: The secret in the sause

I keep up with whats happening in many different parts of development, and one of those is node.js and webassembly. Since everyone was strutting their stuff I figured I could as well, so I posted some videos about the Quartex Web Desktop I have been working on in my spare time (a personal project done in Object Pascal and compiled to JavaScript).

The result? The node.js groups on Facebook went nuts! Within minutes of posting I was bombarded by personal message requests, friend requests and even a marriage proposal. All of it from young web developers wanting to know “my secrets”.

Well, the secret is Delphi. I mean, I can sugarcoat it as much as I want, but without Delphi none of the auxiliary tools I use or made would exist. They are all made with Delphi – for Delphi developers. Smart Mobile Studio, the QTX framework, my libraries and tools – none of them would have seen the light of day if I never learned Delphi.

Node developers could not believe their eyes nor ears when they learned that this system was coded in Object Pascal, using a “off the shelf” compiler that is 100% Delphi; DWScript and Smart Mobile Studio is a pretty common addition to Delphi developers toolbox in 2019

What I’m trying to convey to young developers especially, is that if you take the time to learn Delphi, you can pick from so many third-party associated technologies that will help you create incredible software. ImageEN, AToZed, DevEx, TMS Component Suite, Greatis Software, FastReports, DWScript, Smart Mobile Studio; and that is just the tip of the iceberg (not to mention the amazing products by Boian Mitov, talk about powerful solutions!). As a bonus you have thousands of free components and units on Github, Torry’s and other websites.

That’s a pretty strong case. We are talking real-life business here, not dorm-room philosophical idealism. You have 800.000 receipts on average hitting your servers on a daily basis — and you have 20.000 cash machines in Norway alone that must function 24/7; you have no room for cpu spikes on the embedded board, nor can you tolerate latency problems or customers start walking. And you need it up and running yesterday. I can tell you right now having experienced that exact scenario, that had we used any other tool than Delphi – it would have sunk the company.

The point? After posting some videos and chatting a bit with the node.js devs, Delphi Developer got infused with a sizable chunk of young node.js developers eager to learn more about this “Delphi thing”. And they will become better node developers for it.

EDIT: I started this day (01.02.19) with a call from a university student. He was fed up with Java and C# because he wanted to learn native programming. He had noticed the node.js post and became curious. So I set him up with the community edition of both Delphi and C++ builder. When he masters the basics I will introduce him to inline assembler. There is a gap in modern education where Delphi used to sit, and no matter how much they try to fill it, bytecodes can’t replace solid knowledge of how a computer actually works.

So indeed! These webinars will be very fun to make. We got so many fantastic developers to invite, techniques to explore, components to demo and room for questions! The hard part right now is actually picking topics, because we have so much to choose from!

For example, did you know there is TV channel that is operated using Delphi software? It’s been running without a glitch for decades. Rock solid and high performance. How cool is that! Talk about real-life solution. Delphi is everywhere.

I’ll get back to you with more information in due time ~ Cheers!