>I think there are more issues here than just whether VFP will "run" on Linux. Where is the evidence that VFP has been thoroughly tested on Linux? This isn't a job for someone in their basement. There are enough posts on this board from people who say they are experiencing problems under Windows. From the standpoint of the customer, to what risks are they being exposed?

No, as Whil has pointed out, MS does not even patch acknowledged problems in older products that are still technically 'supported' (that is, not yet deemed 'out of date')

>Secondly, the license makes clear that Microsoft owns VFP and its redistributables. The developer may own a good postion of their application, but they don't all of it. Even if the developer is comfortable with the idea that the customer owns the application, there are components that remain under the ownership of Microsoft. The developer cannot give away what s/he doesn't own.
>
>Who will support the application? Suppose the customer experiences a problem and calls Microsoft. Suppose it is a problem that threatens to break the application. Microsoft informs the customer that the application violates the license agreement entered into with the developer and informs the customer that the software application should be removed from their computer(s). Where does that leave the customer and the developer?

If a customer ever called MS for support of a custom application, do you think they would lend a lick of help? No - the only hope is for the customer to contact a VFP developer for support (assuming they have the source code).

>John