That is one of the best statements about this matter I have seen in a looong time!!
Thanks

Peter


>Dennis,
>
>NET is "the" approved route for MS faithful at the moment. That matters a lot to some of us.
>
>NET has no database. You can use NET with MySQL. If you do, the differences between VFP and NET for C/S access will be the predictable ones, namely VFP features like Remote views and large in-memory datasets that don't hog resource.
>
>Some NET fans advocate Stored Procedures as an "ideal" approach, generally using the approved database for MS faithful which is SQL Server. Obviously those SPs won't work with any other database, so if your customer wants MySQL, a rewrite would be required. It is worth noting that MySQL did not support SPs at all in previous versions, though it does support some features with stored procedures and stored functions as of V5.0.
>
>The real question revolves around customer expectation. Many of the cited advantages of NET may be irrelevant to the vast majority of customers out there, namely small business and single operators that comprise the majority of almost every economy. Whereas if your market is installed product in corporate USA, you need stratospheric confidence to advocate VFP for new development when its corporate vendor has switched it off. Meanwhile if you're providing online service, your decisions to maintain contracted delivery are your own affair. If you're supplying "mom and pop" business, you may find they've been happy with antique product running in DOS emulation on win95. What incentives do you have for upgrade? IOW there is no single "market", so promotion of a single ideal solution is a fairy tale.
>
>Finally: some "gurus" habitually scoff at mom and pop targeted developers. However, even MS is saying that the corporate market is saturated and that growth will come from smaller business. IMHO the traditional corporate gigs are ripe for outsourcing abroad because a shaved fractional saving can be worth big bucks and management is rewarded for such saving, whereas small business expects/requires local support, generally by another small business that cannot be outsourced to Madras.
>
>I think the best advice is to ignore absolute claims by anybody, including me (if you can find such a claim made by me). Information Technology has dismayingly low levels of proper science which means that most advice is anecdote or bias. You are the best judge of your own circumstance- especially your own customer base- so assess it dispassionately and decide how you can serve them best. Now is a good time to be close to your customers.
>
>Good luck!