>>One of the reasons I am interested in python is >the "read/understand immediately" concept baked into much of >the language, coupled with code not needing much redundant >info.
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>My travels into the python world have been very rewarding. So I agree. But I have attempted to keep an open mind. What really makes me wonder is why the folks on this list do not look to other languages as replacements
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>I have read many threads discussing replacing VFP. Every time it comes down to .Net vs VFP. But why? If you accept that job availability is the big mover - then java should be the winner. Dice and Monster always report more java jobs. Sun and IBM have great java tools that include easy data access. If ease of writing code then you expect the list folks to choose almost any language other than .Net or Java. But that is not the case. Looks like the list folks are looking to .Net.
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>Most languages run on windows so that can't be the cause of the list members choosing .Net.
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>If the web was the mover then one would expect the list to choose Ruby or Air/Flex2. After all, using ROR is very hot these days and Adobe's products offer very rich interfaces. But no again the list chooses .Net for web apps?
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>Is the list afraid to move away from Micrsoft? That would be a surprise if it were the real underling cause - because I always considered the list a bunch of independent thinking programmers. After all they didn't follow VB6 even when it was forced down their bellies. But maybe I'm wrong!

I don't find it surprising that programmers are afraid -- let's say reluctant instead -- to move away from Microsoft. It isn't really about Microsoft per se IMO. Even though people like to think independently, markets basically want a leader. People want to make a safe bet. They don't want to put their chips on the Bob's Great New Software square and then wind up with a dead product.