From: \setup\eula.txt

However, this paragraph concerns me:


(a) Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine ("MSDE"). If you redistribute MSDE you agree to comply with the following additional requirements: (a) Licensee Software shall not substantially duplicate the capabilities of Microsoft Access or, in the reasonable opinion of Microsoft, compete with same; and (b) unless Licensee Software requires your customers to license Microsoft Access in order to operate, you shall not reproduce or use MSDE for commercial distribution in conjunction with a general purpose word processing, spreadsheet or database management software product, or an integrated work or product suite whose components include a general purpose word processing, spreadsheet, or database management software product except for the exclusive use of importing data to the various formats supported by Microsoft Access. A product that includes limited word processing, spreadsheet or database components along with other components which provide significant and primary value, such as an accounting product with limited spreadsheet capability, is not considered to be a "general purpose" product.


If I understand it correctly, many VFP developers (and VB developers for that matter) are abusing the EULA. I would think MSFT would promote MSDE's use with VFP in distribution to the end users because if and when productivity ever went down (large files or more users), the end users would upgrade to SQL Server and SQL Server would be promoted by the VFP developer because the app would already be written for it.