Jim,

>I just reviewed the vote list. I noticed, sadly, that none of the 'esteemed' have voted (not that those who have voted aren't valuable, but you know what/who I mean).
>
>I guess that they are generally satisfied with the status quo. It gets me to wondering WHY that would be.

I believe it's a faulty leap of logic to conclude that the absence of the esteemed equates to satisfaction with the status quo.

It could be that many of them are already in frequent direct contact with Microsoft personnel and have chosen to make their voices heard on these issues by those means.

While I might sometimes sign a petition or group letter on various issues, I personally prefer to write a letter in my own words or express my views in person at DEVCON, etc. I just think that's the most effective way for me to exert maximum influence. To each his own, and I suspect that the group letter will at least demonstrate the support of a wide range of VFP programmers for the product -- something that should be reassuring to the VFP team.

Whether it changes anything at the levels above Robert, Randy and Ricardo is pretty iffy, based on what has developed so far on the wiki, IMO. If anyone can demonstrate to MS that promotion of VFP will gain them new business without hurting SQL Server license income, you might get some attention. So far, I haven't seen much along those lines.

I'd say the best case to make is how MS can net more money by promoting VFP heavily, with details to back it up. Anything less is just a show of support, not a compelling business case.