> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 10:15 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [NF] T or F,Development with Open Source tools will save you > money? >
> -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: RE: [NF] T or F, Development with Open Source tools will save > you money? > From: "Jeff Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, August 15, 2007 7:12 am > To: <[email protected]> > > Steve: I just picked up a job re-writing a web application using VFP. It > was written in .NET for the desktop. Compare navigating web pages vs. VFP > with multiple windows open. It was an easy sell for me. Also, reports > never worked right. > > I don't understand. Was the failed project a Web app, ASP.NET, or was it > a Winform VB.NET? It was a Win form C# (I believe) using MSDE. It looked and behaved like a web site; One screen at a time. It is a dispatch program where it is nice to have trucks, drivers, and orders all open at the same time. Also, printing went directly to printers and never worked on one of their printers. I put together the forms and a couple of sample report in VMP in an afternoon and sent it to them as a demo. > We have one application on terminal services and it has a whole new set of > problems besides having to deal with passwords expiring, Networking taking > the system down, system backups and maintenance interfering with the 24/7 > operation just to name a few. > > If the application will be used on desktops and intranets, I prefer a > desktop application. If it is a web application, then I would prefer the > web. > > My 2 cents. > > OK I'll raise the anti. > > Do you have to produce a quarterly update in data content for your users? > We are in the parts business and we have to digest the new vehicles and > capture how to do things in them. That is the hot button of our product I > have been told. This gives the small guy a chance at info on a Prius if > one comes in. > > > This is close to a hundred million $ in revenue "brand" owned by Autozone. > Pulling parts data gives you more then just what you asked for inthis > beast. It gvies you the other fluff that you may need for the job at > hand. > > There have been many discussions here about how to set up a particular application. Once you decide what you want the application to do, you want to look at the best tools for the job. For example: My application has to be used by different companies; each with proprietary calculations in them. My applications collect thousands for records of data from onboard computers. That data could be read from a text file, translated out of proprietary files, data read from an RS232 device or XML pulled from a URL and parsed into my application. I also have to allow for interruptions in the data flow wherever it comes from. Until now VFP has filled the bill, but there are some things I want to improve going forward. There is a LOT of choices out there nowadays and I researched and decided on the tools I want to use. My decisions are based on ability to develop my style applications, preferably in one language without having to purchase a lot of 3rd party products. I have never complained about paying licenses for development tools or 3rd party products, but I don't want my customers to have to pay them. All of my customers use Windows XP or Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 & Windows 2003 Server so whatever I use has to work in that environment. Finally, the language has to be something I can "wrap my arms around". I bought .NET books, read everything I could about it, went to a three day training session and decided that .NET is so enormous and complex that I could never wrap my arms around it. I decided to stick with VFP until something better came along. Open source has matured and upon investigation you will find great development tools and databases out there. I was surprised at the communities for these things, too. I was also under the misconception that open source meant you had to give your software away. With many of the licenses, you can develop applications using databases and sell them to customers. Back to the original question of saving money - maybe, maybe not. I'm not saving much money by going to open source, except not renewing my MSDN subscription; but I can develop applications to my specifications with better tools. Jeff Jeff Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] 623-582-0323 Fax 623-869-0675 --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/signed text/plain (text body -- kept) application/x-pkcs7-signature --- _______________________________________________ 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 Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** 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.
