Bridgett

Ouch!! < g >

Seriously I think there is a problem here. Often when somebody expresses a problem or issue with VFP, "leaders" wade in with ad hominam slogans and generally try to sweep it under the carpet.

I don't think it is MS responsible, actually. E.g. : Look at the thread I started # 649450 entitled "Do the Mdots have it?- Attn Ken Levy"

The "issue" was that not using m. in front of variables in VFP7 creates a performance hit. That's a technical matter.

Quite a few "Leaders" waded in with completely unhelpful comments and "misunderstandings". Several smarties focused on m. vs Hungarian Notation, distracting attention from the issue. The most useful contributions came from MS itself- a pure technical response- and others who amplified the issue and raised other consequences like using m. in SQL queries. Strike out the "leaders' contributions and we have a pithy technical thread. With the leaders there we have a tortuous bulky thread.

So: I don't believe the problem is KL, JK or the other MS people- on the MS front we actually have some of the best people ever yet dissatisfaction grows. IMHO the problem is that some of the "leaders" with whom they consult may not be representative of the community. The growing dissatisfaction is evidence of this.

FWIW I was trained in one of the more "academic" professional disciplines and for a long time I was impressed by the academic contributions of our leaders- Lisa Slater and her ilk were just superb. We still have some stars but they seem to be overshadowed by their louder peers- "empty vessels making the most sound"- who for some strange reason never come very high in the UT "technical contribution" scoring. On what basis do they lead, in that case?

If somebody wants to be my leader, they can update the prehistoric code samples and notes on the VFP website. They can help enough people that they do well in objective scores like UT's technical scores. They can prepare wikis, useful white papers, and assist us from day to day. Giving talks at devcons should be an adjunct, not the only contribution- i.e. you become a leader and then give talks, not give talks to make you a leader.

If this makes leaders feel defensive, tough. You need not feel threatened if your UT scores are high and you regularly create value for others apart from yourself. If your UT scores are low and you have little else to justify leadership, any "hectoring from on high" simply proves my point so don't bother, go and update the code samples on the VFP site instead.

Regards

JR