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LET'S GET PROACTIVE
Message
 
To
06/12/2000 11:47:29
General information
Forum:
Visual FoxPro
Category:
Other
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
00448795
Message ID:
00450083
Views:
39
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Linux started at the bottom. I'm sure Linux is a billion dollar industry by now. I'm not suggesting that a free VFP app can do the same thing - but it could generate lots of work for VFP programmers.
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Well, first, that's an operating system versus a programming language so I don't know that the analogy applies. But, to address my "revolutions don't start at the bottom" point vis-a-vis Linux: first of all, most of the so-called money tied up in Linux is inflated stock for companies dealing in Linux - the degree to which it is a "billion dollar industry," this has more to do with investor funny-money-value of small and medium-size companies than it has to do with available cash for programmer resources. (BTW, I challenge the "billion" claim even on your terms, but that's for another time.) I haven't seen any data on the number of Linux programmers (i.e., the number of folks who spend at least 75% of their time on Linux -- not the Oracle geek who tinkers with it on the side) and their salaries, but I don't know that Linux can be considered a stunning success yet for programmers in terms of work demand and $$. We'll see. For now, it is an interesting OS alternative that has garnered a good deal of attention. People who code and administer it love it (see also: "VFP", "Delphi"). But, if it doesn't really prove itself in the next couple of years, then a lot of familiar-sounding debates will begin to swirl around it (familiar to us VFP'ers, that is: "Is Linux dead?" etc.).
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. - Bertrand Russell
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