Hi, Fernando.

>This morning I had to hear yet another reason why everybody should migrate to dotNET.
>
>Deployment.
>
>Deployment? Yes! There is a new corporate decision in one of my clients that no software (i.e. applications) should be installed in a user's PC.
>
>I argued that *all* my applications don't reside in user's PCs and that there is no install routines whatsoever in order for a user to use *any* of my applications (all .exe reside in specific server's directories, and .ini files and dbfs as well). All that should be done is to create a shortcut in user's PC desktop to start the program and, if that's the case, configure an ODBC connection if the app needs to access an SQL backend. Aha!!! so you *must* install something in a user's PC!
>
>I also presented the WTS option. NO! All should be done via "web" access (i.e. using a browser) and *all* apps should be web applications, accessed by and running under a browser, and... it should be developed in dotNET!

I'm not trying to justify your customer's management decision, but there are, indeed, compelling reasons -in some circumstances- to go to pure web based applications.

First, the fact that you need to install the VFP runtimes (or the .NET framework for WinForm applications) is real. A web-based application only needs you to have a browser, and this is something you have since Windows 95 and on. For the ODBC, this is not a problem, as you don't need to create an ODBC DSN on the local machine, but you can use connections strings stored in a shared resource on a server.

In any case, .NET is not the only way to develop web-based applications. You can used VFP and a host of tools to do this easily, like AFP, Web Connection, ActiveVFP, iFox, etc, or you can just use COM components and old ASP.

Or you can used your COM components and leverage your existing business objects and ASP.NET for the front end. What I'm trying to point is that .NET is not EVIL. It is just another tool. Whether you like it or not, you know it or not, it is not more than that. The fact that they promote it so heavily doesn't make it worst at all.

In MANY aspects, VFP still gives you a lot more productivity. But if I have to choose between classic ASP or ASP.NET, I choose the later, and it works like a charm with VFP biz objects, IF your components are properly built to be used in a stateless environment (but that applies to ANY web platform, not just .NET).

My 2 cents.

Regards,