I've witnessed 2 reasons for VFP being on the list:

1) A company that had a department that went on their own and hired a consulting firm to design a system. It was developed in VFP. The rest is what I was told. I was told that the system was designed poorly. VFP was blamed.

2) DBF's. Even if a department goes and purchases a package, it will be up IT to support it. They want a system such as SQL Server where backups can be performed easily. And they especially don't like the calls they get to fix a problem DBF.

Due in some part to these 2 issues, corporations dropped VFP in droves. During this current round of interviews I noticed several big company names on resumes that I have seen advertise for VFP help. The dates listed on the resume for this type of work ended in 2001. I didn't see a single large company listed as a source of VFP work after 2001.

In 100% of interviewee's, current work was either in another tool (SQL Server and/or Dotnet), or at a smaller company.

That is the hard part. These companies have moved onto other tools and don't see any reason to look to change. I know this is hard to swallow. But they are successfully developing apps with dotnet and/or java.

PF


>That's probably true, Perry.
>
>But maybe it's time for companies to take a good hard look at keeping such lists in the first place.
>
>Not that they should accept any old thing that may be out there. But if a client department has a need for something and their (client dept's) research shows some specific packaged product to be a very good fit, it's actually wrong that it should be discarded because of some phoney list. Especially in this current age of hiring outsiders on a temporary basis to do lots of work in IS departments.
>
>It becomes clear that their (IS Dept's) list is mainly to protect their own jobs rather than to serve the company well.
>
>Why a company really needs a list is beyond me. Where's their backbone?... Why do they use a list... to prevent confrontation and honest answers on a case-by-case basis?????
>
>IS Departments with management that TRULY have serving their client departments as their prime objective don't need such lists.
>
>
>>I was saying that typically, a company that doesn't understand technology too well won't care what the development tool is. Do you not agree that many companies that have an IT dept that includes an approved software list, will in a majority of cases, include VFP on the not approved list?
>>
>>PF
>>
>>>Hello Perry.
>>>
>>>In a small company where they barely know how to turn a computer on,
>>>
>>>On what do you base this opinion? As it so happens, Tightline Computers, Inc. is a two person company and I can assure you that Andy and I both have some idea of how to turn on a computer.
>>>
>>>I have several clients who own small businesses and they are actually quite computer literate. As a matter of fact, one of my clients does the beta testing for his software and is capable of modifying the software when it is required.
>>>
>>>Obviously, you subscribe to the philosophy the bigger is better.
>>>
>>>Oh well. To each his own...