>By reading over the borland Web site It appears that Kylix - is basically the name Borland has given Delphi for the linux verion of the same software.
>
>Can someone confirm this ?

You are correct. Further, the apps developed in Delphi 6.0 can be ported to Linux and run under Kylix IF compiler predefines point to the correct video drivers & libaries, which is easier to do than describe.
The Free Kykix is strapped to a limited number of backend drivers and to the use of the Free CLX library.
The Desktop Edition, or what ever they are calling it these days, has everything except the Oracle, MS SQL and some other drivers, which can be obtained in the Enterprise version. In Kylix 2.0 they have cleaned up some of the annoying bugs that were in Kylix 1.0. In the Free version of Kylix they have put in better traps against defeating the Borland msg that pops up on console apps, rendering them unsuitable for cgi or server applications.

>
>If thats the case, then It seems to me that I should strongly consider developing my next application in Kylix. / Delphi
>
>Linux is not going away. and every application I seem to be developing today is either web a web app, or client server. What I have been reading about Delphi/Kylix is that it is - or can be used a one killer client application- to whatever backend database you connect to it.

Not only is Linux NOT going away, it appears to be gaining ground even on the desktop, especially since a) Open Office 1.0 was released, and b) Microsoft's 800 lb gorillia tactics in trying to force bulk re-licensing agreements for multi-year periods, which include a 'tax' on all computers at a location regardless of the OS they run. I saw a research report which stated that approximately 75% of all current MS licensees are looking into alternative platforms (a euphemism for Linux) and 36% say the are moving to Linux. That is a HUGE paradigm shift. The Microsoft corporate structure is too bloated to be supported with what will be left if those claiming they will shift do so. That is why Microsoft is also pushing hard on the political and patent fronts, with its friends in the music and entertainment industry, to get GPL and Open Source outlawed or hemmed in by patents. It won't succeed because the use of Linux overseas is EXPLODING and business using a WinXX platform will be at an economic, security and stability disadvantage competing against foreign companies using one copy of Linux to setup their entire server farm and workstations, and running apps like OpenOffice, Gimp, Moonlight, and the miriad of accounting packages available, some free, like SQL Accounting.


>
>Now I have been able to do much of this with VFP - and for the past year or so, using Mysql with VFP - But the concept of creating true exe files, multi platform clients, and stronger client methods has really got me to think about moving away from vfp for my next series of applications.
>
>I would love to hear anything about learning curve, - Kylix report writer' IDE, language structer, whatever. to help in making up my mind... Does it really work better as a client app than VFP ?
>
>Bob Lee

The big question: "Is there a dev tool under Linux which will allow me to approximate my productivity under VFP, assuming I am past the learning curve in both tools?"

The answer depended on the ease of developing a WYSIWYG GUI frontend which had easy backend connections and data aware controls (widgets). Prior to Kylix the answer was NO. But, Kylix Open Edition was too limited to be useful. Specifically, it required klutzty connections to 3rd party drivers, principally from Zeos. With the advent of Qt 3 data-aware widgets the drought in the OpenSource/GPL arena is over.

The advantage of commerical Kylix 2.x is that unless Borland goes under Kylix should be around for a long time. The disadvantage is that the patches, fixes, etc., come at the whim of Borland. It took over six months to get a multi-thread database connection bug resolved. Up until the very last moment, with the release of 2.0, Borland LIED about the existance of the bug, even though it could easily be demonstrated. They could have been truthful and gained a lot of karma. Instead, they lost a lot of potential users. The disadvantage of Kylix is the need to come up to speed in Pascal, which is a pretty easy language to learn. Like any OO language, the key is learning the PEMs of the base objects that come with Kylix, both the Kylix objects and the database objects. One has the same problem with Java or C#.

With Qt Designer 3.0, which can be used to develop GUI frontends independent of KDevelop, or seamlessly linked to KDevelop, a WYSIWYG GUI frontend which connects seamlessly to MySQL or PostgreSQL exists. Connections to Oracle are available if you want to pay Oracle for the drivers. Learning the PEMs of Qt 3 and of KDevelop, along with coming up to speed in C++, are the big hurdles. I have opted for C++, KDevelop and Qt 3, which I have been waiting for. I have seldom mentioned the fact that the well tested and used version control system, CVS, is integrated into KDevelop and makes versioning apps, both for the single developer and team developers, a snap. It even has a front end to go with it. Cervesia. Learning C++ instead of Java or Pascal puts one on the cusp of programming for almost any paradigm. C++ programming will be around long after what ever replaces Java or C# have long disappeared, IMO.
I only wish I had decided to learn C when it first came out, or C++ when it was released.
JLK