> >I understand and share the angst over MS. But another angle there, > >possibly in VFP's favor, is that with Big Bill leaving, more reasonable > >people may get involved and let the red-headed step-child out of the > >attic and put some new clothes on him (her?). I think it's a real > >possibility. > > > > > > Why in the world would you think it's a real possibility? It > wasn't BG alone who was responsible for the red-headed step-child > behavior...and most of those folks are probably still there after BG leaves.
Mike, in the half-dozen or so large company's (big insurance company being the only exception) I've worked for, the boss's attitude and favorites made great differences in the operation of the company. It's cliché among presenters to stress the importance of "senior mgmt buy-in" to whatever they are pitching because they know if the boss likes it, it's got a much better chance of success then otherwise. Big Bill's allegiance to Basic is legendary (he wrote a basic compiler), and the Basic approach (separate dbms) is "basically" different then VFP (integrated dbms). Bill favored Basic because he believed in it and the approach made more money then xBase with it's traditional no royalties approach, and xBase by comparison to Basic was a different, maybe foreign, paradigm to him in the early days when a lot of things were going on, so he dealt with it by giving it the shaft - while also keeping competition at bay by owning the best xBase product, Fox. I think those early days planted the mindset that exists to this day. Did he have the support of his senior mgmt? Obviously, but that doesn't mean they weren't just yes'ing the boss on that issue for a variety of reasons. The real strength of this whole argument lies, I think, in the fact that VFP is a much more powerful language then Basic because it can produce fully functional database products, something Basic cannot do, and it's royalty free. Such major advantages to the buyer (us) that level-headed management - in need of really competitive products - can't ignore. Bill is retiring, and with him will go some "old Microsoft" ways. It has to be this way, just like IBM had to retire Watson and go through it's changes back in a day (he wanted to cling to punched cards long after they were useless). > I gotta hand it to you, Bill...you are the eternal optimist! Now if > everyone had your level of faith in several aspects of their > life, this world would certainly be a better place! Thanks. Yeah, I do worry a bit, but the glass is definitely half full :) Bill > Michael J. Babcock, MCP _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
