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I don’t enjoy posting this news. I really don’t. I had hoped that my next post would be a more positive report following the Auckland leg of the XE3 World Tour this morning (and that will come later today).

But I feel this news is so important that it has to be mentioned, so here it is.

From XE3 onwards, your Delphi Professional EULA will prohibit you from using Delphi Professional for anything other than local data access.

If you want to build client/server database applications using Delphi Professional, you will be required to purchase a “Client/Server Add-On” pack.

This goes beyond the fact that you do not get (or can otherwise use or install) client/server drivers for the DBExpress or other “built in” data access frameworks, but extends even to 3rd party data access technologies.

That is, whatever you may be able to do or achieve – technically – using some 3rd party component or library with your Delphi Professional compiler, you cannot legally create a client/server application.

Never mind any 3rd party components or libraries, this same prohibition will apply even if you are using naked, unadorned Microsoft ADO.

Grandfathering

It is worth mentioning that this will apply to new licensees only. That is, if you have a current XE2 or XE license and upgrade to XE3 (or presumably are on SA), then your rights (or rather the lack of any restriction in this area) from those prior EULA’s in this area will roll forward.

But if you fall outside the eligible upgrade window or are otherwise a brand new user, then this new EULA restriction will apply to you. Then again, with this restriction in place I don’t think we need to worry about any new Delphi users, do we ? 🙁

Not that this “grandfathering” is any great generosity on the part of Embarcadero. More likely they would have loved to put the screws down on all of us [Pro licensees], but I presume they were prevented from trying to do so only on the advice of their legal department.

And obviously, if you are an ISV with current Delphi Professional licenses then those licenses can be upgraded to XE3 and continue to be used to create client/server applications. But if you acquire any further new licenses for new staff members (your Delphi team is growing, right?) then those new licenses will be prohibited from being used for client/server application development.

So if your existing application is already client/server, and you need additional Delphi licenses for new team members, then from now on you are forced to purchase Enterprise licenses or the Client/Server Add-On Pack.

Arguably they may have a hard time trying to enforce this and some people might suggest that we can just ignore it. But whether or not that is the case, as an insight into the mindset of the management (or whoever it is that is making these decisions) at Embarcadero, it is revealing and, more particularly, upsetting.

Are they trying to kill Delphi ?

Provenance

I stress, this is not speculation, rumour, scare-mongering or FUD.

I cannot and will not say how the post in that forum came to my attention. I certainly did not post it myself. But I can say that at first it was too outrageous and scandalous to believe. My initial reaction was disbelief that Embarcadero would try anything so foolish or mean spirited. So I checked and double-checked.

Had there been even the slightest question of doubt as to it’s authenticity I would not have mentioned it.

Of course, if Embarcadero want to retract this change and perhaps even deny it was ever going to happen, then I for one will be over the moon.

Now, I have to pack some bags and go door knocking on the local foreign diplomatic missions …. 😉