Hi Stephane,

>>Did you read anything in the MS EULA that said that MS guarantees the free

>It says i can redistribute it freely, and i do!

Grabbing something free today may end up costing your customers something tomorrow. Are you making sure they know that?

> There no charge, zero, nada, $0.00. Maybe sometime in future versions
> MS will change this but at this time it is what i call FREE.

Do your customers know that you are installing a potential trap for them within their application?

>Did you read anything in the MS EULA that said that MS guarantees VFP
>apps will be freely distributable in the future?

I bet if you looked hard enough inside the EULA for the MSDE you'd find that MS has the right to update its software anytime it wants via the internet or make its software stop running for any reason. That language is there so MS can charge whatever they want whenever they want and if your customer doesn't pay they can cut them off or throttle them back.

>>When ignorant/arrogant developers like you fall for the "free taste" today

>Ignorant/arrogant like me!
>
>Ignorant: Maybe! there is lots of things i don't know about... Like who
>the hell are you to tell me i'm ignorant, do you know me?

Well, from your post I can tell that you seem to care more about your needs today than your customer's pocketbook tomorrow.

>Arrogant: What do you find arrogant in my post? i was trying to provide
>a solution that works for me for years.

The "works for you" part is what I would call arrogant. People who aren't arrogant would be more interested in "works for my customers now and in the future".

How would you like the company who built your car to enter into an agreement that says that they could use a free engine in it today to save them present manufacture costs with the understanding that the engine will stop running in the future unless you (the customer) pay the engine manufacturer a royalty or maybe have to buy a special gasoline that costs 10 times as much?

>Yeah, i'll be aware, i will never code again with .NET, VFP, MSDE because it
>freely distributable and there is no guaranty it will be in the future!

The money MS makes off of the VFP product covers the cost of developing the DBF style table structures. The server product they are "giving away" will be throttled back at a future time when installed base reaches the desired level or MS just needs more money.

Remember: There's a big difference between DBF files and server applications. DBF tables are just files. As long as your old app works with them they won't change and everything will be fine. A Database server is an application. That application can simply be told to no longer run or to no longer support as many seats. And it can be changed remotely at almost any time!

VFP is more than just a great language and superior IDE. When you use VFP's DBF style tables you are ensuring your users that their business will be protected in the future from unexpected fees.

>Are you sure you had your coffee this morning ?

I'm on my second cup now. :)

Sorry if I'm using your post to express my thoughts on this topic. I certainly don't mean to pick on you exclusively. There are many others who may read this and may now take the time to re-evaluate their thoughts on what their responsibility is to the customer.

Listen, I'm sure you're a great guy and I truly mean no offense. I'd like you to realize that your position as a database developer is one of trust in the business community. As such, I feel you have a higher responsibility to evaluate options as they come to you and to make sure that when your customers make a investment in you and what you provide to them that they are getting solutions that are both well conceived and appropriate to their needs, both current and future.

#END OF RANT

Hugh