Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 00:17:55 -0500
Message-Id: <199903260517.AAA32193@envy.delorie.com>
From: DJ Delorie <dj AT delorie DOT com>
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: DJGPP: the future is... ?
Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com


Don't panic!

I've been doing some thinking lately about where DJGPP is going.  I've
concluded to myself that it really isn't *going* anywhere, it's
*there*.  The core code is pretty stable and feature-full.  GNU ports
come out often enough, and we're becoming "just another unix platform"
for a lot of people.  The web pages have pretty much everything I can
think to add to them (although we can always use more documentation :)
The big focus these days is on third-party additions (like Allegro)
and applications.

Cool.

The big question I have for you all is this:  What's next?

I don't mean "Let's write application XYZ", I mean for the DJGPP
project itself.  Think BIG.  I don't see too many people installing
DOS these days, and Cygwin is shaping up to be almost as good as DJGPP
(hey, I can boast - I'm on both teams) so the Win32 systems will see
less demand for DJGPP over time (I expect, at least).  Plus, a lot of
DJGPP users are switching to Linux or WinNT/Cygwin.

So what are our choices?

Well, we can try to saturate the DOS market.  I don't know how to do
that, unless we spend a fortune on ads in PC magazines :-(  Perhaps an
effort to "spread the word" in other forums (nicely, please) would
"enlighten the uninformed", but it's for diminishing returns.

We could try to make DJGPP a Windows-native system.  I don't think
this is a good idea because 90% of the value in DJGPP is the way it
hides DOS, and we'd have to throw it all away and start from scratch
if we switched to the Win32 API.  Plus, Cygwin already does Win32, and
legally I can't promote such a project because that's what I already
do for Cygnus.  If you like this option, join the cygwin team - you'll
be much happier, and we can always use more help.

For the same reason, DJGPP for Linux is a bad idea.  Heck, DJGPP is a
port of the Linux tools themselves!

We could overhaul DJGPP again for ELF support and a few other
fundamental design changes, but why mess with a good thing?  Sure,
we've got a list of bugs to fix (like C++ templates in COFF) but
they'll get fixed eventually.  Such redesigns would have little real
effect on the project.

So, I'm at a loss as to where we should be focusing our energy at this
time.  Mailing list traffic doubled every year from 1993 to 1997, but
*dropped* 10% in 1998 (1999 isn't looking too good, either), and
delorie.com's web server has had a pretty steady load for the last two
years, even though I've got plenty of spare resources.  I think our
period of growth is over unless we start something new, but what?

So my task for you, my loyal fans, devoted followers, silent lurkers,
and the occasional tax collector (hiss!) is to help shape the future!
Let's get those ideas flowing and figure out what the Next Big Thing
for us will be!

Considerations (but not limitations):

* GPL.  We've come a long way with it, no reason to change now.

* Should give something to the community.  DJGPP was built by the
  community, the benefits should go to the community.

* Traffic to my web server means money for us, which I turn into more
  servers, bigger disks, faster net connections, time to write CGIs,
  etc.  The main DJGPP server is a P166 with 27Gb of disk and a 1Mb/s
  link, but if you folks want to chip in for a PII/450 I'll get one
  ;-) Current traffic just about covers ISP, electric bills, and
  upkeep (about $9,000/year).

* Should be long term and highly visible, so we'll all get rich and
  famous (we hope) through contracts and such.

* Should be something that can grow on its own.  For example, if
  personal labor is involved (like consulting), you're limited by how
  much you can do, but a web page, computer program, or software
  package can grow and multiply without needing more people-hours.
  This also frees us up to do other projects when we're done :-)

So crank up those brains, think carefully, and let's hear your
suggesions.  No flames please!  You may send me private mail if you
don't want your ideas public, else send them to the djgpp forum.

DJ