Here were the words used:

"The last person to speak collectively for "us" uninvited was JVP when he accosted Bill Gates. It was an unpopular move.

"It was an NDA event in Redmond, so I can't say a lot. But the remarks started with "I speak on behalf of 500,000 VFP developers world-wide..." at which point nearly every VFP developer in the room had their head in their hands"

First, John and multiple other industry 'faces' prepared the question(s) for hours beforehand.

Second, the term accosted does not characterize the action.

Third, I challenge the statement "nearly every VFP developer in the room had their head in their hands". At the time, John was a major VFP player, and it was a very good question. If there were reactions after-the-fact that go along with something being 'unpopular', it should not have been directed towards John.

As far as 'uninvited'...look, since 1996, people on CompuServe, the Thread, and other Fox forums had been SCREAMING AND SHOUTING about the lack of exposure from Microsoft. Remember all the rumors around 1996? John asked the question that so many wanted to ask. Uninvited? Not sure I agree with that...

IMO, the only people who truly felt upset with John were probably the ones who suspected their worst fears about MS and their plans for VFP.

I'm not going to defend every last thing that John said/did right around the time when he was kicked off the UT. He acknowledged he made mistakes. I think there should also be an acknowledgement that John has been the target of mis-placed anger and frustration.


Kevin