R.I.P. Delphi / Borland

Well, they're not completely dead yet but just as I re-familiarized myself to the most recent incarnation of Delphi (Now SLOW and MUDDLED, w00t!) I read that Borland is ditching it, and can't even find an interested suitor. Apparently they want to identify themselves with the bloated, useless corporate / enterprise tools that IT execs think they need to pay for and developers never even bother including in their tools installations.

The Reg has a suitably sardonic poem onthe subject (Which is why I love that website). Link.

And the users of Delphi sang a song as they marched:
Oh they didn't write Skype in Javascript
Or Scheme or other Lisp.
And they didn't use Java or that C sharp
'Cos it had to be fast and crisp.
And they didn't write Skype in C++
Though they wanted it tough and tight.
And they didn't write Skype in Vis Bas
Cos Vis Bas is just shi ain't quite right.
Chorus: Thou sayest 'Delfee', I sayeth 'Delfye', let us calleth off the whole thing.
And the Sons of Kahn muttered one unto another saying: Cripes, here cometh the fruit loops.
And they went out to parley with the users of Delphi.
And the users of Delphi spake unto the Sons of Kahn saying: Wotcher guys. Delphi 2006 was heaps better, even if it do crawleth somewhat. But where hath all the examples in the help gone? You should make it like PHP, which hath the best help of all the languages, because there is a place for punters' comments. But the new editor is neat...
Then the Sons of Kahn interrupted, saying: Hold up one moment. We have something of import to tell you.
And the users of Delphi replied unto the Sons of Kahn saying: What.
Then the Sons of Kahn spake, saying: What would you say is the most important development in cooperative programming technology these last ten years?
And the users of Delphi replied: Easy-peasy. The mobile phone camera. So you can take a picture of the whiteboard after the meeting. Next question please Jeremy.
And the Sons of Kahn spake, saying: Let us put this another way. You know that we have been getting into high end development tools recently?
And the users of Delphi replied: Your sideline selling expensive corporate gizmos to amuse bored and gullible IT project managers? The packages that let one annotate one's code with a popup note of what the user supposed he required and compile it all into a two-way convertible, config-controlled, colour UML diagram in 3D? The stuff that has done almost as much for Computer Science as colonic irrigation has for dentistry?
Then the Sons of Kahn spake, saying: We wouldn't have phrased it quite that way, but something like that. We have decided to split this off from Delphi and our remaining languages, such as they are.
And the users of Delphi replied, saying: Excellent thinking. We've long been worried that the corporate tool business would damage the reputation of your compilers.
And the Sons of Kahn spake, saying: You don't understand. We're ditching the compilers. And you. Bye.
And the users of Delphi were flabbergasted, saying: Uh?

Considering my first testing / coding job was in Modula-2 and OS/2 I should probably put 'obsolete development environments' onto my resume. This might mean I'll finally have to suck it up and learn C#.

If Borland were smart they'd just open-source the thing. A typesafe .net language that doesn't treat its users like children is definitely a potential money-maker, if it was shaped by the developers who wanted to use it rather than as a platform to tack costly add-ons to.

Once a real developer community got hold of it I would imagine a similar scenario to waht happened to Netscape and StarOffice: The bloated suites get torn apart and the individual programs are made into sleeker, much more focused applications.

Delphi 5 used to load in about 10 seconds on a P2 450, now delphi 2005 on my 2.0GHz lappy takes a good two minutes before I can actually edit my first line of code.

I'm sure Borland aren't interested in overseeing another OSS project, they didn't seem to get the firestorm of free labour they were probably expecting when they opened up Interbase (Firebird), so they might just rather pawn off a 'failed' project onto the most convenient bidder.

How much would a consortium of interested developers be able to pony up for such a bid? Lots of development houses regularly pony up thousands of dollars to stay current with the latest version. Perhaps enough Delphi licencees would be able to tie up their accountants, and set aside the next 3 or 5 years of would-be licence payments and put it into a pool with other developers to perhaps out-bid somescavenger tech firm that wouldn't know what to do with what they're acquiring.

And maybe someone wil knock on my front door and give me a lolipop this morning, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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