[Lazarus] Lazarus for writing 3D Desktop Environment/Window manager for Linux?

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Thu, 24 Jun 2021, Chavoux Luyt via lazarus wrote:

> Hi
>
> Background:
> I have played a bit with Lazarus over the years, but have never used it to
> write any big or commercial projects (I have used both older versions of
> Delphi, C++ Builder and Visual Studio with C# for that). However, it seems
> to me as if modern Lazarus has everything and more than Delphi (although it
> would have been nice if Lazarus could add packages like Delphi without
> needing to recompile the whole IDE - compile the package to a .dll or .so
> and simply link into it from the IDE?). KDE (Plasma), XFCE and Fluxbox (MX
> Linux versions) are my current favourite desktop environments, but I am
> feeling increasingly frustrated with especially the larger desktop
> environments (including Windows 10) and want to replace it with an
> interface that makes use of the 3D capabilities of most (all?) modern
> computers. The idea is a "game-like" first-person shooter interface where
> instead of a desktop with various virtual desktops or a start menu, you
> have a house (or a castle or whatever) in which you move, open different
> doors with different rooms, like e.g. an office (where all your typical
> office programs (and files in filing cabinet) would be stored, a
> entertainment room (with your music and video software and files), etc.
> This interface will also be more future-proof than the current desktop
> metaphor, allowing for e.g. virtual reality displays instead of a screen as
> your computer-human interface.
>
> I really like object Pascal as a language (and Lazarus in particular)...
>
> Questions:
>
>   1. Is it possible to write a 3D desktop environment (with similar
>   functionality to KDE/Gnome) in Lazarus?
>   2. Is Lazarus a good tool for writing such a desktop environment?
>   Why/why not?
>   3. Are there better alternatives that can use OpenGL (or a game engine
>   using OpenGL) that can be used for writing such a Desktop Environment (if
>   Lazarus is not a good tool)?
>   4. I have installed (but never used) Castle Game Engine (using
>   aptitude... but I don't see it in Lazarus). Does anyone here have
>   experience using it? Could it be used as the basis of writing a 3D "desktop
>   environment"?

I think the castle game engine is your best shot at achieving success with
this project.

Michael.