Okay, I've sort of stayed out of this up until now as I am inclined to defer when the point of contention is technical. But ...

I think there is an element of truth in what you say, Walter, but I would suggest there is something else at work here - which is also cultural. There is a part of American culture which tends to put a lot of responsiblity on the individual rather than the group. and to seek solutions at a personal level rather than a writing of wrongs ouf of a sense of entitlement.

Often we look to the line in Shakespeare "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings."

I am not saying this feeling is universal here, and certainly many Americans look first to The Government or to some other collective entity for solutions to things that they regard as contrary to their own interests. And there is certainly a tendancy among some to think of themselves first as members of a group (especially when it benefits them to do so) and thereby seek benefits or absolution from responsibility.

And there are those of us who feel that it demeans an individual to think of him/her first as members of a group or ... class. < s >

I think the trend in post-Club of Rome Europe is to seek safety and protection in larger entities - not just the local welfare state but now in a "greater" state administered by bureaucrats in Brussels. Well, good luck with it. I suppose it is better than the European model from 1914 to 1945 but I do not see it as ultimately successful in creating a dynamic culture. Holland certainly had got along quite well without it ( barring unwelcome German tourists )

I offer all this ranting only as context in which to suggest that generalizations about American attitudes and interpretations of why more NAs have not signed the petition may be painting with too broad a brush. ( BTW, I have signed it, in solidarity with my friends, but without a great deal of hope in its practical value )

Maybe we just understand better how to predict the likely behavior of the folks in Redmond. And perhaps their behavior is indeed very culturally American. But then, so is much that has shaped our profession - and have included a great deal of its successes.

( as the to your observations about the Russian space program - that is just silly. By those standards we should look with amazement as North Korea's successes in developing a bomb with "limited resources". Russia's success with Sputnik may be a credit to Russian intellectual achievement but it was certainly at the expense of the Russian people. It was, however, an example of how a centrally managed economy misdirected resources )

Cultures are rather complex, as I am sure you know, and when I see intelligent Europeans perhaps overstate their understanding of a culture as diverse of my own, I just want to offer a gentle counter-balance.

( Frankly, I think the problem is the message headers re: MasFoxpro just looked like something in some strange foreign language so most Americans just felt out of their depth and decided if there was anything that looked like a non-English word it couldn't be very important so they passed it up. Now that kind of cultural blindness in this country I'll admit to immediately < s > )





>Vladimir,
>
>I'll get burned for this, but here it goes. It a very different attitude. North american are more driven by hypes than anyone else. In one sense that is great, because they put their full enthousiasm in anything that is new or mordern and above all they general money with it. However, that is not always practical nor econimical.
>
>A small example of the differences between the russian and americans is that american always tend to think they are superiour because of their advanced technology. But if you look at reality and look what the russians have accomplished with 'limited technology' in the space race it is absolutely amazing. In more than a few ways, russian technology outperformed american ones. It is only a pitty that given the poor economy the russian space program has lost much of its glory though.
>
>Anyways, do regard it as a cultural thing. Many american think it is time to move on to something new and more sexy, while the fox still does its work efficiently.
>
>Walter,
>
>
>>Too many discussions here and too few voices from North America. ( not proportional to developers number).
>>What are they scared? MS decision is not critical for their lifes? Yes, it is not. If just SQL server and Window will crush, we shall all prolong to live and will find the way to find meal. This is not clue. Why language, which gave us job ( and fun and challenge and friendship on sites at DevCons) for long time is not enough supported? Where are your votes?