It would show that they're "on-board" the open-source tide and that they realize their business plan is secondary to creating tools that developers want and need. Just the fact that we're discussing what's good for Microsoft as opposed to developers is ridiculous imo.

And who's to say smart developers couldn't do something with the raw source? Good god, if we were to stop trying stuff because it might be too hard nothing would ever get done. I'm sure there are those in the community smart enough to tackle such a beast.

Microsoft doesn't get anything at this point. They're in a never-ending game of catch-up with the real players in software development who are all open source.

You state there are "those in the community smart enough to tackle such a beast". Can you name 5 people in the community who A) have both the knowledge of FoxPro and C++ to take on such a task, and B) have committed that they'll devote serious blocks of time to accomplish this?

I worked in C and C++ for well over a decade and then C# for years. I don't think I'd have the capabilities to tackle this beast. And even if I did, I defy someone to present a business plan/model where investing such effort would yield any financial benefits. I don't know if you've realized - but the economy kind of sucks right now. Even the most talented people out there are maximizing their efforts for financial gain.

I realize you're not openly saying you expect others to carry the heavy load without any possible compensation - but your entire premse is flawed. The big question is whether there's enough value, whether it's worth it. Microsoft "gets it"...and so do most developers who know where to put their efforts. So guess what, most developers are no different than Microsoft (nor should they be). A fact that some (even past-life wunderkinds) don't seem to get.