Delphi XE4: Target Linux desktop? (GUI Aapplication)

Question

I am embarking on a cross-platform app, but not mobile. It will be Windows, MacOS and Linux. Would love to use Delphi + FireMonkey, but it appears Linux is not a possible target?

The GUI will not be extensive. Most of the code is non-visual.

What are my options here? (Do I end up using Lazarus for the Linux side.... and then I have to have a special UI there?)

Please let me know my options here, how to solve this cross-platform dev project (and hopefully avoid C++).

Padraig

use lazarus if you want linux – Pyelitis

CodeTyphon may be nice Lazarus distro for novices, having most 3rd-party libraries readily packaged – Burette

Answer 1

Linux is not currently one of the supported operating systems, as can clearly be seen from the product description on the Embarcadero web site. If you need Linux/Unix support, XE4 and FireMonkey aren't an option. (XE4 supports Win32, Win64, OSX, and iOS.)

There's support for Linux planned at some point in the future (after Android, which is currently being developed and slated for release later this year).

Purgatorial

Man, we could sure use linux support now. We have to choose between Delphi XE4 and C++ with Qt / wxwidgets. C++ is a high bar for us (we have a lot of Delphi experience with older versions, but almost zero C++ experience). – Padraig

Borland tried Linux before (with Kylix), and it didn't sell many copies. It seems that Linux developers are used to getting their development tools for free. :-) The boom in mobile development is what influenced the order that they're doing things, AFAICT, and at the time they would have started working iOS was the biggest target. (It was before Android got so popular.) Lazarus/Free Pascal would be my choice if I had to support Linux now, and definitely would come before C++ with either Qt or wsWidgets. The only other Delphi-type option would be Oxygene (what was Delphi Prism) with Mono. – Purgatorial

Would love to do it on c#, but mono is too limited. Lazerus before qt, eh? Interesting. Will have to investigate. Qt has nice xplatform hooks. – Padraig

I wonder if someone tried to compile Delphi app with WineLib :-) – Burette

@Arioch'The I have done delphi apps on wine, but it isn't great. Not something I could give to customers... – Padraig