>This thread has developed quite well. I have a reason to especcially react to your message, because you mention the two aspects that I wanted to be at the core of the thread.
>
>I don't believe that any of us is only doing all this helping just out of altruism.
>
> .... There must be more selfish reasons for 'helping' others also.

I began reading and posting in newsgroups for entirely "selfish" reasons. I changed from an FPW job where there were other developers available to answer my questions, to a job where I needed to learn VFP quickly and there were no other developers available. I began reading every post in every VFP newsgroup or forum I could find to supplement the excellent VFP foundation I got from TakeNote. I'll never forget one of my first newsgroup posts - I encountered a question about something I had learned in VFP class that day so I paraphrased the answer out of the class materials and posted it to the group. Doing so solidified my understanding of the topic.

I've kept on in newsgroups to supplement my knowledge of VFP. If I only knew the areas of VFP that I actually use in my job then I'd be very limited in my expertise. Trying to figure out something that someone else needs has helped me learn tons of stuff I'd never otherwise know.

>....this alone gives them a potential head start. That's just not fair competition, IMO!

You keep referring to "competition." If you're referring to my job, then I'd like to know how you think I compete with you, or with anyone else for that matter.

If you're referring to "competing" for a spot on the MVP roster (assuming MSFT limited the numbers somehow), then it's obvious from the new names added to this year's roster that people who have only the same publicly available information you have are able to "compete" successfully for an MVP award, while others were not renewed.