As an IDE, Freepascal does seem dated, not including many details that we've gotten used to in recent decades.
The language itself feels also frozen in the early 00's, have a look at string handling for instance. Very verbose methods, and a problem that's true for the Freepascal dialect in general: small incompatibilities with Delphi Pascal, the dialect any old veteran will be used to and as such also much documentation/discussion online. Add to that a near invisibily in places like Github, and it does not make for a very attractive platform, compared to some others. Freepascal/Lazarus has a nice forum, and if you happen to be working in the same niches as other guests, that may be enough, but otherwise... I also couldn't help but notice that the practices passing around zipped code bases/fragments is alive and well on there, mirroring the culture of small but closed source tools the Delphi ecosystem was famous for around 2000. While friendly, very dated and 'source hidden' in its ways.
The language itself feels also frozen in the early 00's, have a look at string handling for instance. Very verbose methods, and a problem that's true for the Freepascal dialect in general: small incompatibilities with Delphi Pascal, the dialect any old veteran will be used to and as such also much documentation/discussion online. Add to that a near invisibily in places like Github, and it does not make for a very attractive platform, compared to some others. Freepascal/Lazarus has a nice forum, and if you happen to be working in the same niches as other guests, that may be enough, but otherwise... I also couldn't help but notice that the practices passing around zipped code bases/fragments is alive and well on there, mirroring the culture of small but closed source tools the Delphi ecosystem was famous for around 2000. While friendly, very dated and 'source hidden' in its ways.