>When a person makes the comment that another is off-base - it is usually in the context of not being factual - either entirely or through a distortion of some magnitude. Therefore, you are now in the position of arguing against yourself.

Since you dropped out of the "product will take off if Linux takes off", who else can I argue with < g >. If you want to say that the definition of off-base implies not being factual, fine. We're arguing semantics. To clarify, his arguments were not objective. As Della pointed out, this guy took two (my understanding of the phrase "a couple") days with 4 different tools to try and do what he normally does in dBase. I should have stopped reading right there. The argument lacks credibility. He used the snippets argument to bolster his claim that dBase was a better tool.

>Software developers like to pride themselves on their keen sense of awareness - to pick through the details and context to get at the core of things. In essense, their ANALYSIS SKILLS. In the present case, the core issue is staring you squarely in the face.

Your analysis that the product would take off if Linux takes off was incorrect. When I pointed out the flaw in your argument, your reply was that you no longer cared. You simply failed in your analysis.

>Your key to the context was to look at the last sentence:
>
>"One-way tools were painful to use."
>
>dbase, like Delphi is a two-way tool. I believe VS.Net will be a 2-way tool as well. You can work in code - and have the changes propogate visually. Or, you can work visually, and have the changes propogate in the code. Or, mix and match - whatever...
>
>Like many, you stopped at the offensive comment without taking the time to figure out where the guy is coming from...< s >...

I didn't find the comment offensive, just his argument without merit. I looked at the whole article, examined his reasoning and the comapny's misleading statement on open source, and concluded that his reasoning is unsound. Also, you have not responded to my earlier comment that the company's stance that the prodcut is decidely open source is misleading.

>Again, it is about being objective in a world where others will not excersise the same....

When you get here, I'll be glad to open the door for you.