Re: [ANN] RealThinClient components > preparing the Roadmap for the Year 2006

Hi Danijel,

>True. The biggest advantage is that it doesn't cost anything, which is
>the main reason many big companies use OpenSource (to lower their IT
>costs). I've worked with automotive companies and Banks in Europe, where

It is not my experience with big corporations that Open Source software is
chosen because they are free and to reduce their IT costs.

In big companies where I worked where OS has been chosen for some software,
the evaluation process has put various commercial and Open Source offerings
side to side.

Cost is only part of the total picture and not often the most important
aspect for big corporations. And as far as cost is concerned, the cost of
the software is minimal compared to the total cost of a project :
productivity with the software, time to train developers...

>> Look at JBoss, Apache, Eclipse, Postgresql, db4o... Eclipse's
>> success is because it is OpenSource and many developers are
>> contributing.
>
>Yes, they are successful mainly they are free. Firebird, for example, is
>more successful than Interbase ever was, even though they are the "same"
>product, but the reason for this is only because Firebird is free while
>Interbase isn't.

I wouldn't say that the main reason they are succesful is because they are
free but because they are quality software developed by a team dedicated
developers valuing quality, open access to the source, security and
contribution from the community.

There is also a lot of Open Source software that doesn't make it although
they are free because they don't have those attributes. The same goes for
commercial software.

>> Good, don't forget that during the time you are mainly developing your
>> component set to fit the need of your principal customer, others could
>> have
>> developed based on your component set in other directions as you have
>> mentionned yourself: Forms like Intraweb, Remote Assistance product
>> based on RTC Core...
>
>Well, I won't be working for my principal customer, I will be working on
>my ideas (which they are supporting). They can only give me input on
>additional features they might need. But, I won't be writing any
>application-specific code or components. Generaly, the components I will

Ok, thanks for the clarification. Good for the product and its future.

>> I am not sure the company
>> that overtook Remote Office has added very much on your functionality
>> either. Have they?
>
>Not really. They only changed the user interface (the looks of it) a
>bit. But now they are making it proxy-friendly by using RTC Core
>components, to overcome the problems they have in some big corporate
>LANs, where http proxy servers block all ingoing and outgoing ports.

I just wanted to make the point that may be you haven't seen contribution
on your code because it was already very feature complete, not because
people don't want to contribute.

>> I wouldn't invest too much on the .NET side if I were you because this
>> market is very packed. Why not differentiate yourself by going the
>> other route: Java and Freepascal, .NET latter.
>
>Hmm .... well, Java was here for a long long time before .NET came
>along, but now I see how a lot of big companies are moving towards .NET
>every day. I think there is a big market for .NET components, bigger
>than Java will ever be.

It depends of course where you look. In my market, I see many big companies
investing more in Java, leaving .NET for smaller projects or not even
considering it.

>A question between .NET and Java is the same as the question between
>Windows and Linux. I know a lot of companies have moved from Windows to
>Linux or Unix, but this was mostly because they were looking for more
>stable servers.

Yes. This trend will continue I believe. That is why I would try as a
software developer and particularly if I were writing server applications
to have an offering on Linux. That is why I would make sure I have
something that works with FreePascal or Java aside from Delphi and .NET.

>Windows has won the battle against Linux on the Desktop ground, now it
>is starting to take over the server ground (where Linux/Unix was "the
>master" until a few years ago).

Time will tell. I don't think that Windows has won the "battle" on the
desktop. Linux is years back there and is catching up Windows. Windows is
still copying MacOs even today !

As far as the server is concerned, Windows Servers (NT 3.51 Server...) was
available well before Linux became famous. The "battle" was between Novell
and MS at that time. Linux/Unix is here to stay on the server: security,
stability, open source... are some of the reasons.

>Windows is inexpensive and it comes
>preinstalled on most new PCs sold on the World.

I believe Windows is expensive when you compare its price to the price of
the whole PC and the cost to maintain it and keep it up to date.

>And new Windows versions
>come with .NET built-in, while Java has to be installed separately.

Yes, but we are speaking on the server here. RTC Core, RTC Functions, RTC
Forms is for the server, not the client side, right ? It is not that
difficult for an administrator to install Java on one server!

With IntraWeb, the only thing you need on the client side is a web browser.
No Java, No .NET... That is the way it should be on the client side.

>> If you offer
>> something innovative for web development with RTC Forms, RTC Objects
>> in Java and Freepascal, you may discover an unknown wider market.

I am just answering to all this because I am thinking about the future of
your product and its place on the market.

I find that it is important for your product to not only be available in
the Delphi or .NET world.

KbmMW, RemObjects, IW have all possibility to work with Java. They are not
going far enough there but offers very interesting bindings. I believe that
it would be good if you could have a full Java, FreePascal version of your
software. That would open a wider market for you.

Looking forward to your road map and to the innovation you will bring!

Regards,

Oliver
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Game Company- Java Server Thread Priority
    ... If all of the underlying system and setup of Windows is identical to the ... for the application that was running on the old server. ... > Java program on a windows 2003 enterprise system with dual ... > When we first set this up, the Game Server Program took exactly 50% of the ...
    (comp.lang.java)
  • Re: Game Company- Java Server Thread Priority
    ... If all of the underlying system and setup of Windows is identical to the ... for the application that was running on the old server. ... > Java program on a windows 2003 enterprise system with dual ... > When we first set this up, the Game Server Program took exactly 50% of the ...
    (comp.lang.java.programmer)
  • Re: Game Company- Java Server Thread Priority
    ... If all of the underlying system and setup of Windows is identical to the ... for the application that was running on the old server. ... > Java program on a windows 2003 enterprise system with dual ... > When we first set this up, the Game Server Program took exactly 50% of the ...
    (comp.lang.java.help)
  • Re: [JAVA] XTAPI with MSTAPI or Serial Provider
    ... Yes I did assume Java would not work with the Windows API - as it is cross ... TAPI is a Microsoft/Intel 'product' so is restricted to the Windows ... I designed a socket server which has to sit on a Windows NT based ...
    (microsoft.public.win32.programmer.tapi)
  • Re: How about the future of VC++/MFC
    ... And all those versions of Unix, with names that ended in -ix but which couldn't call ... There are more Windows boxes out there now than the sum of ALL computers made by ALL ... software cost money. ... it's OK to be locked into Java but not into MFC? ...
    (microsoft.public.vc.mfc)