the feeling i get from the developers of dbase is one of being very serious about what they are doing. it is their only product and they have to make it work. and to make it work, they will have to make it better than everything else out there. i have been reading through the language reference that i downloaded from their website and have to admit that i have thusfar been quite impressed. as with most other serious software tool makers, i think they are aware of the upcoming linux base and will not ignore it like MS. i so love the view of MS exec's - like scared ostrich's - all you see is their butts - their heads are burried in the sand! and the feeling i get from them is that they only use the above ground parts to think with!
C++ has always intimidated me too, but have a look on the codebase site and see what the code looks like for C++ and it doesn't look too bad.
in the mail yesterday i received a 60 page brochure from pcsoft, the developers of WinDev. it looks quite amazing and i believe that version 7 that is coming out in a few months time is even more radical! you might want to get a brochure - they are free.
best - john