I agree with the last comment. Comming from a Windows / OS/2 development environment mostly in Pascal / Delphi I find Linux development realy taxing. The starting point is usualy something like.. now you have compiled your xyz you can now start to install the IDE.... once you have completed this now install the cross compiler and dance round the computer three times clockwise with your Z taped to your forehead. Which for anyone who hasnt done this before is somewhat over thir heads.
craigtyson, for the record, this isn't directed at you in particular, but more at the general attitude of this thread.
I don't understand where comments like this are coming from. I've been programming for ~25 years -- 18 professionally -- and I've had to learn many new platforms during that time. Every platform takes some time and effort to get up to speed on. In the grand scheme of things, developing for the Z and getting up to speed on it isn't any more difficult than any other platform. All the same basic concepts are there in a very similar form as on any other platform.
I wonder if what's happening here is that folks who know one platform have simply forgotten how long and how much effort it took to get up to speed on it. To use craigtyson as an example (and, again, not to single him out or anything), it surely must have taken you some significant time to get up to speed on the platforms you mentioned (Windows, OS/2, Delphi). You're now trying to move to a new environment that is more than just a new set of tools: unix is very different in some ways than Windows and OS/2. You can't expect to learn that overnight. Think back to your early days in Windows and OS/2 and ask yourself if you can honestly say that learning Z development has really been that much more difficult. I seriously doubt it.
And frankly, anyone who isn't already an accomplished developer on at least some platform has no reason whatsoever to expect this to be easy; and no amount of documentation in the world is going to change that. Those who want to do must invest the time and effort to learn the necessary skills and there's simply no way around that. Those who are developers had to deal with the same learning curve and often times had *fewer* resources to help them (the late-comers always have an advantage w.r.t. resources for learning).
Complicating this particular situation is the fact that this is a strictly volunteer community. No one is getting paid to write documentation and organize it for you to make your efforts easier or develop tools for same. And, since Sharp bowed-out (and even before, some might say), there has been no company with an incentive to pay folks for those things (Trolltech is the probably the only exception, but their hands are tied somewhat by Sharp's proprietary stuff). The developers and volunteers that are active can barely keep up with the stuff that *they* want to do and it's unrealistic to expect anything more out of them.
And the fact of the matter is that the information IS out there. If you want it you merely need to help yourself to it. And I can tell you with some confidence that this situation isn't likely to change any time soon.
It is true that if we had some better resources we would probably attract more developers. And it's also true that other organizations do have those resources and as a result fare better in terms of number of developers and their output. But those organizations also have one thing that we don't: a sugardaddy. (And it should be noted that the support of a sugardaddy is far from altruistic. They do it only to increase their own bottom line; a far cry from the motivations of a volunteer community.) Even when Sharp was supporting us, they put very little into it.
Frankly I think it's amazing what this community has accomplished with so little support. And it's largely for that reason that I tend to regard complainers with some disdain. This community didn't accomplish what it has by being negative and bitter about every little issue. It approached issues with a positive attitude, learned to help itself and made the best of what it had. That's the only road to success.
Sorry for the rant, but it had to be said...
... This is one reason that MS has taken off... You done need to be a good programmer to be productive and develop working apps as the IDE is easy to pickup and there are lots of examples to get you going.
I can't help responding to this one also....
Do you really think this is a good thing?? I, for one, would prefer to use software that's written by competent programmers. If what you say is true, then this probably accounts for the all the crappy, bloated Windows-ware that abounds. (In fairness, there is lots of good Windows-ware also.)
~ray
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