I need your questions for an upcoming interview with Nick Hodges, the Delphi & RAD Studio R&D Manager with Embarcadero Technologies. Leave them as a comment to this message and then listen to his answers in our next episode.
Comments closed in preparation for interview. Thanks to all who commented!
There has been a lot of fuss lately about the lack of openness on apple’s platform. There is still time for things to change, and hopefully this ends as a win for developers and consumers, but unless Apple changes their tune there will be no winners, only losers.
The general consensus among the developers falls into two camps:
Personally I fall in the first camp (which you probably guessed from my opening paragraph.) I think it would be great if Apple’s platforms were open and I could use most any tool as long as I called the correct API and use the right UI controls.
At the same time I disagree with those who believe laws should be passed, or lawyers retained to regulate how open Apple makes their platform, all in the name of freedom. I’ve got news for you, freedom means Apple can decide to not have an open platform.
I may disprove of Apple’s actions, but I will defend their right to do it. That is what is known as freedom, and I will not give up freedom for the benefit of openness. If I want openness to be an option in the future, then that means allowing Apple the freedom to have a closed platform today.
Giving up freedom for openness means loosing both.
Voltaire wrote “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too,” which Evelyn Beatrice Hall summarized as “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Ben Franklin said “Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power,” which was later paraphrased as “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
Seeking to take away Apple’s freedom for the sake of openness is to sacrifice the very freedom that allows others to make open platforms. So if we take away that freedom and we give up our freedom to be open.
I’ll just remind you of Hodges 1st Law before someone makes another car analogy, they don’t work anyway.
Apple announced their new iPhone SDK and license agreement today. Part of the change in the license agreement to use the SDK and publish apps to the app store includes
Changing Section 3.3.1 from:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs.
To now read:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
This is most likely the latest volley in Apples war against Adobe Flash, since Adobe announced that their new Flash Studio would include the ability to translate Flash applications into iPhone applications. A lot of people are also saying that this will kill MonoTouch (which allows C# and Delphi Prism iPhone development).
I checked Miguel de Icaza’s twitter stream to see his take on this.
Someone suggested that maybe MonoTouch add an option to generate Objective C for X Code to compile, to which Miguel responded:
MonoTouch already has an option to compile to C + XCode, just call mtouch –xcode program.exe
Then TheZDuck asked:
@migueldeicaza I just saw this. Does this mean the end of MonoTouch!? http://bit.ly/cT2Zyn
Which seems to be a pretty direct question, and Miguel responded:
nope.
Sure, it would have been nice if he elaborated more, but it is a direct answer.
Earlier in the day Miguel tweeted:
Started work on iPhoneOS 4.0 support in MonoTouch.
Why would he work in it if it violates the license agreement?
Miguel is on the beta and has Novell’s legal department to pour over the license agreement, so he has more information then those who are speculating wildly about the end of MonoTouch. So go back to learning and using Delphi Prism and MonoTouch. You iPhone and iPad apps are safe for now. It would appear Apple doesn’t hate MonoTouch as much as it hates Flash.
Talking with marc hoffman of RemObjects talks with us about what is new in the Oxygene compiler in Delphi Prism and what to expect when developing applications on the Mac.
I remixed the audio to remove the 5 minute gap.
Visiting with Marco Cantu and Cary Jensen.
is available. You can get the print version or the PDF.If you have any other questions or comments for Marco or Cary you can leave them here, or catch them online:
Marco Cantu
Cary Jensen
Kind of expected this to happen due to all the conflicts, but I just received an update for the Delphi Live! 2010 dates.
Due to the rather short notice of the date, which gave some other potential speakers a bit of a hard time and because we have received quite a few emails from the community, we have decided to shift the dates to August 23-26. The location will still be San Jose, this time the Crowne Plaza in downtown.
Hopefully this date works for more people.
The Crowne Plaza looks really nice, although I am not sure where the new Embarcadero office is located in relation to it.
It is however right next to the Tech Museum, which we have had conference evening events at in the past.
Still no update on the Delphi Live! website, and I don’t know if there is an extension on the Call for Papers or not.
I didn’t get the episode with Marco and Cary edited and posted yet (came close – might still get it posted tonight when I get home). In that episode Marco mentioned his free REST webinar which occurs at three different times tomorrow (March 3rd). So sign-up to attend one of those sessions and download the white paper, it will be really good.
Marco Cantù presents REST in Delphi and RAD Studio 2010
Let Marco Cantù show you how to get the most from RAD Studio 2010 with Representational State Transfer (REST) – a new architecture for Web services that is having a significant impact on the industry. Join Marco as he delves into the technologies involved in REST from the Delphi perspective.
Marco Cantu has a new Delphi 2010 book coming out. Cary Jensen has a new Advantage Database Server 10 book coming out. Together they have their Delphi Developer Days coming up. Now is your chance to ask them about any of these topics, or get their opinion on any other news in the Delphi community, or stump them with a technical question. Post your questions or vote for other questions. I’ll do my best to ask the top questions.
I’ve setup a separate Uservoice forum for your questions. Be sure to log-in so I can ask you questions in case I need more information! Anonymous questions are OK too though.
The interview is scheduled for 9 PM Pacific Time on Wednesday the 24th. Get your questions in before then!
[Questions closed – interview recorded.]
Michael Rozlog, the Delphi Product Manager with Embarcadero Technologies, answers your tough questions. Some of them are pretty tough ones too. Recorded in mid-December.
Some of what we talked about:
It came in a bit longer then usual, but I have a hard time cutting content out when it is so good. Thanks to Michael for his time and for answering our questions.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone at Delphi Live! 2010 in San Jose! This is an email I just received . . .
With the great success of the inaugural event in 2009, Delphi Live! is coming back to San Jose from May 17-20. UPDATE: New dates announced.
We are looking forward to another great gathering for Delphi developers from all over the world and to meeting you again in that area where Delphi history has been written – and we want to celebrate with you, of course, Delphi’s 15th birthday!
Please accept our invitation to submit session proposal for this great community event. Here is some basic information as well as the Call for Papers!
>> Conference Dates:
Main Conference: May 18 / 19
Pre Conference Tutorial: May 17
Post Conference Tutorial: May 20
UPDATE: New dates announced.
>> Conference Location: San Jose
>> Tracks
>> Call for Papers:
Please submit your proposals by February 24, 2010 at
http://delphilive.com/input
If you already have a log in to this website, you can use it. If not, registration only takes you a few seconds.
>> Sessions:
Sessions are 75 minutes. It’s possible to divide a session in an introduction and a sequel.
>> Target Groups:
>> Misc:
We are looking forward to meeting you in San Jose!
