>If you've got an opinion, I'd love to hear it. BTW, I know that we've got a long time before VFP becomes totally defunct, but we're trying to allow enough time to master a new development environment as well as convert our existing applications. We are estimating that our primary application might take as long as two years to convert completely to a new language, so you can see why we are actively looking for something to start learning. Incidentally, we are not formally trained programmers. Like so many VFP developers, everything we've learned, we've learned on our own.

Couple of years ago i tried LAMP. And although it's a completely alternate reality, I actually found it the same, just different :).

Now what's the same, and what was different. Same: data are data, normalized is normalized, logic is logic, and string manipulation by any other name will chop your strings just the same (rhyme unintentional). PHP makes a lot of sense and you understand what it does and what happens where because you've already written a few dozen pieces of code generating code in Fox and generated tons of HTML with it, so it's the same war with other means.

What's different? Things are configured in a different manner - everything is in .conf files, for which you need a special tool called any-text-editor-you-want. The initial .conf files are not blank, there are comments listing your choices, there are examples, there are no mysterious strings like "add a key called DoSomethingCompletelyInsane at HKRK\Software\CurrentSet\001\51002\MoreSoftware\MyCompanyName\DefaultSet\Alternate and give it a value of -423110301" that only a guru with a beard down to his knees may know where to find.

Actually, even though this is a completely different word, and the help can be quite terse, specially about the basics that were written a couple of decades ago and you're supposed to know them but don't, it's far easier to google out the answers to your questions - or use the search starting off the website of the tool in case. I've configured Apache in about two hours. That is, learned how to configure it and had it done. And I still have a fight IIS a lot when I want to do _anything_ with it, after all these years. Same goes for MySql, PHP, Ububtu. It's easier to find a good answer on message boards - and the mainstream website's search finds them - than it was to find anything in the help for, say, Office or Windowses themselves. One thing that eases the search is that it won't find the myriad articles written for sales and propaganda, because there aren't (m)any. And the names of things inside are common names, not proprietary names. Also, adding to the simplicity is the fact that there's no attempt to create a virtual reality where things are simple (for end users) and another, rather hidden one where you have to buy books, subscribe to developers editions etc, and it doesn't even tell you straight, just drives you in circles. LAMP was not written by sales department; it was written by programmers for programmers.