>Mike-
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>>Let me pose the same question to you, Nancy. Would you make a contribution to the cause of writing this article, and if so, what's it worth to you?
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>I have no idea what you're getting at. I have a suspicion but I hope I'm wrong. What I hear is that since this article would benefit the community, the community should subsidize you. Or, do you mean that it would, perhaps, benefit MS and so MS should pay you? Do I understand you?
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>Given the immense amount of _free_ expertise people here provide to help you, help me, help each other, I'm a little astonished that some folks seem to think writing an article which would be in their own interest isn't valuable enough for them to be bothered. And yet, they are willing to expend energy complaining about how others aren't making the effort.
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>> Or perhaps you'd like to volunteer to do it yourself.
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>How do you know I don't already?
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>> Surely you're more qualified than I am.
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>I'm different from you in attitude. That's all I know.
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>> How long would it take you to do it, and how much payment would you like to receive? I'm absolutely serious.
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>1) I'm not the one going around volunteering other people for writing duties, or coming up with reasons why I can't contribute positively to the cause (whatever in the heck that is). Not the one looking for today's dime at the expense of next month's dollar.
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>2) How do you know I'm _not_ contributing? As it happens I do write, for no fee, for CoDe Magazine. I do it for a couple of reasons, none of which are any of your business.
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>3) Why do you suppose that writing for MSDN is free? I don't know. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Writing does pay. Not a lot. Not as much as consulting, but it does, generally, pay. There are also other intangible benefits.
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>4) Are you _completely_ clueless about how much it would benefit your professional image to be an MSDN author? It's called resume building.
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>Look, I don't care if you write or not, it's not for everyone, but I know for sure you could contribute in some way that suits your talents to the effort you seem to think everyone else, or someone else, should take.

Whoa, Nancy! I have no idea what sinister purpose you might suspect, but I assure you that these speculations are way off base. I'm not asking how much you'd contribute to me to write such an article, I'm asking how much you'd contribute to whomever should happen to be the author. That's not a trick question. I did not in any way mean to suggest that you have not made plenty of contributions to the VFP community, nor was I sarcastically suggesting that you wouldn't be qualified.

I'm the last person you'll hear presuming to volunteer other people for any sort of duty. Strangely, many people have taken to the notion of volunteering my services, despite my admission from the outset that I don't consider myself qualified on this subject. That anyone (not you) should seize upon a frank statement of ignorance as grounds for ridicule is abhorrent to me. I do not resort to such foolish and unprofessional tactics. Ignorance is easily remedied, but faulty logic and mean-spiritedness are harder conditions to treat.

I appreciate that there are both tangible and intangible benefits to publication in such prestigious places as MSDN Magazine. I also understand that SQL Server is something worth becoming acquainted with. But if someone wants to offer me a job, it will take more than prestige and a topic of general interest to entice me. I wouldn't expect otherwise from anyone else who works for a living.

I like VFP a lot, and I've been supporting my family for quite a while as an independent consultant primarily, but not exclusively specializing in VFP. I've also been working on my own VFP-based product development for years. My personal interest lies mainly on client-side applications, hence the rather atypical lack of personal interest in SQL Server. Yes, I understand that I might find more consulting clients looking for SQL Server skills, but there are other skills I'd be more inclined to pursue first, all things being equal. I'm far more interested in my own product development than I am in consulting.

Getting back to the question I asked you, in all seriousness, since you and others seem to agree that an article on "Paving the Way for SQL Server with Visual FoxPro" is a desirable end, I'm still curious to know what, if anything, you'd be willing to make as your personal contribution to the author. Offhand I'd say I would personally contribute at least ten bucks to the pot. If you'd be interested in writing it, what would you ask for the job? I'm not sure how much I would want to be payed myself, and I'd make some allowance for the general interest value of it, but I doubt I'd be willing to do this work as cheaply as someone more familiar with the territory.

Mike