What you use D for?

[Bill Baxter]

Dave wrote:
> 
> "Jason House" <jason.james.house at gmail.com> wrote in message 
> news:g0i5gi$sr2$1 at digitalmars.com...
>> I develop a multithreaded game-playing engine 
>> http://housebot.sourceforge.net
>> Of critical importance to me is debugger integration, multithreaded 
>> support, data visualization, full Tango compatibility, support for all 
>> gdc platforms, and integrated profiling and unit test coverage 
>> analysis. I could see spending $50 on something like that, but only if 
>> I know it will remain useful.
>>
>> An IDE stops being useful if I have to buy a new version with each D 
>> release, or is close in functionality to free alternatives.
>>
> 
> $50 for all that and a virtual life-time maintenance contract -- Wow, 
> big spender!

That's not an outrageous request for a C++ or Java IDE.  There are so 
many devs out there for those languages that a company probably could 
survive with that pricing.  D isn't quite there yet, though, in terms of 
number of devs and penetration into corporate markets where employers 
can easily fork out the $$ for an IDE.


> Just because you give your software away doesn't mean the rest of us 
> should <g>
> 
> This is a perfect example of how the open-source mentality stifles 
> innovation - small development organizations can't make a buck off of 
> software anymore, so why take the time to do it right ;)

Thanks to open source, we already have an Eclipse-based IDE, which I've 
heard is pretty decent.  (err... no pun intended there).   Without open 
source we'd all still be sitting around waiting for the D community to 
get large enough for a commercial developer like Arne to take notice.

Furthermore, Arne was proposing to make an Eclipse-based IDE.  Eclipse 
is open source.  So without open source Arne would have no business 
model at all here.

Still, you do have a point that free-as-in-beer software has given 
people an expectation that they can get something for nothing.  Still I 
think it's better than the alternative we used to have, which was being 
forced to pay something to get software that all too often turned out be 
basically worth nothing.

--bb

>> Arne Wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm a developer specialised in making eclipse based IDEs. We consider 
>>> to create a comercial quality IDE for D but are unsure if it will pay 
>>> of (and so we are able to throw full time developers at the project).
>>>
>>> We need to know if there will be enough customers. Do you use D for 
>>> commercial projects? Does your company make money with it? And is 
>>> able to pay for an IDE (if it fullfill your needs and speed up your 
>>> development, of course)?
>>>
>>> It would be helpfull if you can describe in a few words what you do 
>>> with D and perhaps could provide a link.