Pete;

Although I agree with your viewpoints I think Microsoft would rather sell .NET and SQL Server to "get the big bucks"! I think Microsoft views Visual FoxPro as suitable for developers in the jungles of so called "third world nations"! It does not matter how good VFP is - we are dealing with marketing, profits, American business and government. Perceptions and marketing are so important. Tell the customer something and they will buy it. Microsoft has credibility in corporate America. That is the bottom line! Why push a $500 solution when you can reap tens of thousands or even millions from American institutions?

That $98 million the State of California paid to Oracle is not really a problem. Just ask Larry Ellison! I am sure he sees nothing wrong with the deal! It allows him to sail his yacht around the world for racing events and killing crew members (Larry - I thought you said you would stop racing when a crew member died during a race?), and flying his private jet airplane over silicon valley to keep the neighbors awake. A boy and his toys!

Here is a “funny story”. I will not use the name of the corporation involved but will refer to it as “the company”. The company had a need for a data base application, and a vice president was put in charge to deliver the goods. The vp hired his buddy and signed a contract for $28 million. The development was being done in Visual Basic and 14 months later the money ran out. The auditors found out what was going on and there was really nothing to show for all the “work”. We were hired after submitting a bid of $1.5 million. In three months we had the application in production ( a Visual FoxPro solution) at four divisions around the United States. It still works several years later.

Politics within a corporation, laziness, marketing, ignorance, dishonesty, and a “I do not care” attitude contribute to such problems.

As for me - I go with the flow. I am tired of fighting city hall - it is not worth the effort! Just pay me the bucks and I will use whatever tool you want. After doing this for over 20 years I notice this approach is most successful. :)


Tom


>>>Cindy,
>>>Although your suggestion makes perfect sense for a typical business situation, just for extra information, let me add this may not always be true. I work for the federal government. Congress gives us funds each year, based on a lot of political, non-business factors. We have to live with that and therefore our budget is fixed. If I go to my managers and present how much they can save by an upgrade, it will be irrelevant. That's because anything my management buys will cost extra,and no money will be 'saved'. The funds for new products have to come out of the fixed budget, no matter how good an argument I can make for increased productivity. What my management wants to know is why should they spend money on what I want, rather than what someone else wants. My management was very generous in supplying me with several copies of FPW, then VFP5, then one copy of VFP6. It will be very difficult for me to justify an upgrade to VFP7 at this point.
>>
>>Silly managers! Those same people are charged with meeting certain goals and keeping within their budget. If they make spending choices that result in the greatest possible productivity for the dollars, then they will do well. However, what they appear to be thinking is that the whole group is a bunch of little kids fighting over the sandbox toys and who can have the biggest share of the pie.
>>
>>Typical for government. That's why capitalism is a better system than socialism.
>
>Right. Another problem with this kind of system is that it breeds short-term planning. That is, we cut corners for this year. Next year, same thing. Etc. Finally, we have such outdated resources that it is very expensive to maintain, and extremely expensive to do a massive upgrade. Moral: short-term savings to taxpayers, long-term losses. The Dept. of Veterans Health Care System database software is circa 1980! I'm envious of people like you who are up-to-date! (I wonder if Microsoft has ever thought of marketing VFP to Washington -- there is a huge market there!)