Practical Ways to Help Lazarus and Free Pascal Thrive?

[TRon]

Well, at least the FPC devs had left before that time, because there wasn't really much interest anymore.

Yes, I am very well aware PD

[440bx]

Evidently Joanna has found a way to peddle IRC without using the word "IRC" instead it's all about "real time support"...

It's been working for several pages now but, I have a feeling this synonym has a limited lifetime. <chuckle>

[lainz]

Go and use python or Javascript these are popular languages. I use them at work so why not a hobbyist.

[440bx]

440bx has gone to at least one thread with the sole purpose of insulting the poster because the poster doesn’t do things like he does.

What in the world are you talking about ?  Is this about my comment that Pascal doesn't look good in uppercase or some other thing you chose to be offended by ?

The fact that I tried to help has somehow made me into a villain. How is this even possible? It’s pure insanity.

It is far from insanity.  You seem to be hell bent on "suggesting" (that's putting it rather kindly) that Pascal programmers should be on some chat thing.  Personally, I have no desire to be in some sort of chat thing and, by the looks of it, I am not the only one who doesn't find the thought enticing.

You're entitled to believe that would make a difference but, everyone else is entitled to having a different opinion and _voicing_ it. 

It wasn't chat rooms or some facsimile that made Turbo Pascal popular.

[JD]

I expect no other future besides coding pascal alone after everyone has finished disappearing.

You don't have to code in Pascal alone. It does not have to be a dogma. Many of us, on this forum, like me, also use other languages. Languages are just tools for solving problems. No more, no less. The support on this forum is as good as it ever was and, in my opinion, excellent. The ages of the members of this forum never bothered me. There is no Pascal apocalypse! All languages face attrition. I remember discussions on Java forums talking about Java slowly dying. 

Remember that apart from the developer, nobody cares what language you use as long as the problem is solved within budget constraints, time limits and optimally. 

As for Pascal totally disappearing from the face of the Earth, I believe it will find its niche. Look at this announcement I found on the PostgreSQL website:

New PostgreSQL support in IBM COBOL for Linux on x86
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/new-postgresql-support-in-ibm-cobol-for-linux-on-x86-3074/

COBOL is still alive (for obvious reasons) and even Foxpro is still in use. Pascal still has its place. So cheer up!! 

[munair]

There's no reason for any pessimism if a language is less popular than it used to be at some point in history. New languages come and can become popular because they are practical for specific use cases. This popularity fluctuates. No big deal. Some languages are very old and still used for specific tasks. This is true for Pascal and even more so Fortran. They still have their use cases and won't go the way of the dinosaurs any time soon. So what's the problem? Lazarus is downloaded 800 times a week for Linux and 16,000 times for Windows. I'd say it thrives.

[JD]

@munair
I agree with you wholeheartedly. 

[JD]

Lainz and JD I’m not interested in other programming languages. It’s all I can do to not forget how to program in pascal. Without pascal I would give up programming.

Noted. 

[munair]

I'm waiting for this thread to be locked.

[JanRoza]

Please let the drama queen stop ranting here!

[440bx]

I'm waiting for this thread to be locked.

I think that would be a good thing.