Well, I don't push anybody :) Take your time, you'll be there :)

>Take it easy, Nadya. We don't need to be indelicate about it. They will come in their own due time without undue pressure from us. The VFP community cannot afford to lose the good will of our most eminent contributors, and they will each have to weigh their personal decisions for themselves.
>
>Mike
>
>>Congrats, Mike :)
>>
>>It's a major step forward! Now it's time for GT...
>>
>>>Everyone please note that another highly distinguished name has appeared on the list. In the words of Raymond Massey, "This is only the beginning!"
>>>
>>>Mike
>>>
>>>>Alex,
>>>>
>>>>I agree that nnnn out of nnnn is a better type of number.
>>>>
>>>>I don't know if we have that luxury any more, but maybe we do.
>>>>
>>>>BUT... I also feel that
>>>>
>>>>There are many who
>>>>Take their cue
>>>>From the guru.
>>>>
>>>>. . .and these are holding back for lack of support from that quarter.
>>>>
>>>>Cheers,
>>>>
>>>>JimN
>>>>
>>>>>Hi Jim and Alex,
>>>>>
>>>>>From what I've seen so far in the wiki, the only people who bothered to visit (with one exception) were those who were in favor of signing the open letter.
>>>>>
>>>>>Those who aren't in favor, didn't say "no", they just didn't vote.
>>>>>
>>>>>With Michel's help, we could get the list of UT members (premier and basic) that have visited the UT since the vote was open and compare the names in the list with the names listed as voting "yes". This will tell us that "out of the x number of developers who read about the vote, y number of developers agreed".
>>>>>
>>>>>Granted, it won't tell us how many "yes" votes can be projected, but we could probably get the ratio of "yes to no" in the general population. There will be a margin for error, of course, but let the psichics at 1-900-gartner figure that out.
>>>>>
>>>>>I think that a relative figure would be much more useful in this case (i.e. 33% of vfp users have agreed to sign).
>>>>>
>>>>>Having a percentual figure gives us a better idea of what things look like, rather than speculating that the 300 yes votes are projectable to 3000, 30,000, or 300,000 users. 3000 votes might sound meager, but there is quite a difference between 3000 out of 200,000 and 3000 out of 5000.
>>>>>
>>>>>You think Michel could get such a list together? And if so, would he release it?
>>>>>
>>>>>Hmmmm.... I just had an idea...
>>>>>
>>>>>I posted a call to vote in a Spanish vfp list that has 152 members and Alex Feldstein did the same in the spanish vfp newsgroup (I don't know how many active members are there; perhaps about the same). I just did a quick count by country and hispanic last name among the list on the wiki (these people are likely to have heard about the vote from AlexF or myself), and there are about 100 names there that meet the criteria.
>>>>>
>>>>>Based on the above, I can say for sure that AT LEAST 1 out of every 3 developers agrees with signing the open letter.
>>>>>
>>>>>I think that's heavy enough for Microsoft to take notice.
>>>>>
>>>>>Alex
>>>>>
>>>>>>Yes and no Alex,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I will be buying it too. But there are, by all accounts, a huge number of FPD/FPW (and probably FB+) apps. out there, most of them still being supported and probably some even expanding.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>These licenses would have dropped out of sight long ago and I think it is a reasonable guess that many of those practitioners opted to stay away from VFP for a number of reasons. One likely is "VFP is dead".
>>>>>>
>>>>>>So I see two important points here:
>>>>>>1) From the point of view of the vote, tons and tons (my guess is near the 95% level) of FP/VFP people will NOT hear of the vote and so will not cast one. Something must be done to equate the number of actual votes to the number of probable votes that would have been cast IF ALL HAD HEARD ABOUT IT AND COULD HAVE VOTED. Right now, for instance, we can estimate that 1 in around 300 would vote NO. My guess is that one vote HERE (Wiki) is worth 1000 VFP licenses.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>2) If MS markets VFP and always and forcefully rebuts any "last version" rumours and tells their OWN people (especially those who talk to the public) to acknowledge VFP as a 'mainstream product' then there is potential for lots of the FPD/FPW holdouts to make the move as well as attracting brand new programmers.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Cheers,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>JimN
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Jim,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>The question of how many use VFP will be moot soon as MS will have an easy way to measure the profitability of VFP: How many upgrades are sold, how many new licenses. I won't curse the darkness, I plan to give a new VFP7 license to a nephew.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Alex