It started a gradual change in the last 7 years or so, as VFP usage as declined. It picked up significant speed when it became obvious that VFP is no longer the strategic tool for most.

In the last couple years as some of the more technically proficient here moved on, in some cases they tried to share their experiences. However, that seemed to be a no-no by some here. A Vocal minority if you will. I think there are many who just moved on, not stopping to make comments one way or the other.

I think the level of technical discussion on these forums was far higher, even several years ago. Now any mention of someone using something other then VFP is immediately shot down. Sometimes by people who obviously have no technical knowledge of the other tool, so using arguments that are personal preference.

I would consider your argument about local data engine to be a personal preference type of argument. I know several people who are developing .Net or Java apps. I've never heard from them that they just wish their tool had a local data engine. Maybe they don't know what's missing. I would consider MS attempting to put a local data engine in .Net as a marketing tool. To give them a selling point vs. Java. Rather then a necessity.

I would consider Walter's argument about strong typing as a personal preference. When I first started to learn some VB many years ago, the "option explicit" which turns on strong typing was listed in training materials as the first thing you should turn on. Many, many, many find this to be a useful capability. Once again, I find it comical that Walter lists this ability as one of the things he doesn't like about .Net. It's a feature in .Net and Java. This pretty much encompasses a hugh majority of developers in the world. They don't seem to have too much problem with it.

Oh, I mentioned paranoid delusional before because I do think some here sound that way. Just for your benefit, I googled "paranoid delusional":

"Delusions are beliefs that are not backed up by reality. They may remain despite obvious evidence to the contrary, and the fact that nobody else believes them to be true."

What is wrong with using this to describe some statements here???? The reality is that if you use a job hunting site and enter VFP, you will be presented with maybe a handful of posting over the last month. Compare this with posting for .Net, Java, Oracle, SQL Server, etc. Seems to me that reality is that the future for VFP is not too bright.




>>>Personally I agree with John Baird on this conversation. It's extremely comical.
>
>I find it shameful. When did the VFP community change so that it became OK for people to fire nasty taunts at each other? I've been in this community since the early 1990s and I've never seen such viciousness.
>
>What I do see is that much of it comes from people who profess to have "seen the dotNET light" though they have failed to practice what they preach. Perhaps that internal conflict overflows in hatred toward others.
>
>>>Folks are so threaten as the usage of VFP declines that they have become borderline "paranoid delusional".
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>I'll bet you'll need to look that up on Google before you know what it really means. Your main interest is that it is a nasty thing to say. QED.