I was making a general observation about the market you are talking about. Specifically from my experience.

I have worked with some very talented VFP programmers. If I knew of a market to attack, I do believe I could assemble a team that would put together a world-class app. However, I am not in that position.

It's also been my experience that shops developing verticle market apps pay less then corporate jobs. They have several articles in todays LA Times about the tech job market. They interview some folks from Silicon Valley. In one case, the gentleman they interview is now working at a software development company for $45,000. About half what he used to make at HP.

This also brings up an interesting point. In one of my prior jobs, I ended up supporting several off-the-shelf packages. Most of which were written in VFP/Foxpro. It was obvious that the most professionally written package I had to deal with was written in VB/Access. This reflected on VFP's image within the company.

PF

>Maybe I could get a little more specific.
>
>I recently saw an online app called eMaint at a VFUG meeting and took a later look at their online demo. I don't know how well they're doing, but I was impressed and I doubt there was any 2.6 code going on.
>
>Online time reporting with data feed back to accounting systems is an app I've thought of for a awhile for organizations that have outside workers on time billing. This type app could involve web, tablet, PDA and laptop interfaces with backend apps feeding the data in and out. VFP could be used in several places for this type app.
>
>I've seen one of the largest independent insurance agency quoting systems still being handled in FoxPro DOS and terminal modes that could be moved to an extranet type scenario.
>
>There's an article link on MSDN quoting a company in Texas that has increased their business AND reduced cost with a VFP based TabletPC app for traffic counting and surveying.
>
>There are literally thousands of small retail outlets that could bebefit from going e-commerce. If you had the ability to order something from a local shop that allowed you to avoid time and traffic, but still had local accountability if something went wrong, would you do at least some business with them that way? These folks are prime candidates for a pre-built e-commerce solution and someone to manage it for them.
>
>Same goes for small wholesale companies.
>
>If you're a company developer maybe you have to go with whatever management wants or maybe you come up with unique ideas on how they can improve their VFP applications to compete or even set new standards for the competition.
>
>My real point in all this is in todays world, especially if your an independent, you have to be a "solution provider", a problem solver, not just a developer. That's going to be true for any development platform, but why not let VFP be your secret weapon?
>
>That's what it's going to take to compete today and in the future.
>
>Jim Eddins
>dbx-Technologies
>
>>Jim,
>>
>>As a developer, this is the catch-22 for me. Obviously, I am doing this because it pays the bills. But I feel happy at the end of the day when I was able to solve a narly problem, or learned something new. i read a quote once from another programmer saying that a good day for him was a day he learned something.
>>
>>When I've participated in the environments you're mentioning for VFP, it's been frustrating. There is absolutely no learning. The owner is only interested in maintaining the status quo. In some cases that also includes maintaining a coding style based in Fox2.6.
>>
>>I think the main reason why everyone in the group I'm in is willing to jump on Java, is not to get out of VFP. But because our current working environment is one of the best I've seen in a long time. So as a group we are doing what we can to prolong staying in this environment.
>>
>>PF
>>
>>
>>>That's the kind of opportunity I see for VFP developers, unfortunately some of these situations may call for "creative relationships", like joint ventures, since most aren't going to be able to afford large re-development expenditures.
>>>
>>>Jim Eddins
>>>dbx-Technologies