SCO Survey concerning MySQL

[Fairlight]

Only Bud Henschen would say something like:
> >> You missed the entire point of it, Bud.
> 
> Nope, I didn't, but I feel that if they see a lot of filePro people using 
> SCO and they don't have any interest in LAMP or using MySQL, it might catch 
> their attention that there is a large filePro community that want to stay 
> with filePro and SCO and at least let them know we're still around and like 
> what we're using.  If they would publish the results of the survey, it would 
> be nice to see "filePro"  50% (or more) of the database used.   I think it's 
> worth the survey, and who knows you may win something.

You're kidding, right?  This is just sad.  Pathetic, actually.  I mean,
I can see it in a gaming community where there's "Best RPG of 2005", and
the publisher (in this case, CCP, who publishes EVE) pushes their users to
vote.  That's publicity in the making, although I think pushing users to
vote is unethical in the first place, when done at the corporate level (as
opposed to interested groups of users who act independantly of the vendor).

But come on, you're supposed to be running a business around a professional
product, here.  There are just a -few- holes in your thinking as far as I'm
concerned:

1) The existance of such a large community is conjecture as far as anyone
except you and your employees.  In the past, whenevere someone's asked the
userbase size, the answer has been a dodge and something like, "How do you
know it isn't large?"  

2) If there -is- such a base, and if they're actually in the SCO community,
they should already know about the survey, in theory.  They wouldn't need
to be informed by you, nor solicited.

3) It's a survey about MySQL and SCO, not [insert ANY other database] and
SCO.  It's -their- survey and their chosen direction, whether I like them
or not.  Why try to skew their results?  SCO and filePro were supposedly
such good partners at some point (there is a quote to this effect on the
page http://www.fptech.com/Company/usertest.shtml to this day).  If that's
the case, why screw up your partner's statistical data?  Granted, this was
from 2003, but if you're going to stick by one side of the partnership and
utilise the quote, one would think you'd honour all reasonable terms in the
spirit of partnership.

4) 50% of databases used?  You're -joking-, right?

5) As Walter said, it's a RAD toolkit with a built in data storage engine.
They're talking "real" databases here.  Did you -look- at the list of
alternatives to see the field in which you apparently want to try and
compete?  Do you know your niche?  Do you know your competitors?

6) If the numbers don't -naturally- come up as you'd like them, then that's
just an unpleasant reality.  Trying to play little cat and mouse games by
getting your users to help cook the numbers when they otherwise wouldn't
even participate seems about as ethical as...well, it -doesn't- seem
ethical, sorry.

Tellya what.  If you want SCO to know the status of filePro and its
userbase size, etc., I have a novel new approach:  Grow a pair, pick up
the phone, and talk to Someone Important over at SCO instead of trying to
get your users (who already have a hard enough time doing what should be
fP-Tech's own marketing, on top of running their own businesses) to schill
for you.  If you're legitimate, then be a man and open up a bloody dialogue
with them as the CEO of your company rather than hiding anonymously behind
your users to skew someone's results in an act of obvious desperation.
Directly let them know your opinions and desires for whatever it is you
want.  You'd actually have a prayer of seeing results -that- way.

This idea of yours is not borne from a position of strength by any means.
Any company/product that has to -ask- their community to do something
like this generaly has issues that point towards a weakness and inability
to compete honestly on a level playing field.  You've just done more to
convince me that filePro is in worse shape than I previously guessed it
was, to be honest.  The whole thing smacks of desperation and a lack of
maturity and business savvy, in my opinion.

Last night, I only held the unspoken opinion that you were utterly
clueless.  With your recent admission of motive and rationale, you've
definitely managed to exemplify the old adage about opening one's mouth and
removing all doubt--at least as far as my opinion is concerned.

> >> I think I'll enter the contest; thanks for the link.
> 
> Great!  Remember to promote filePro :-)

"Never going to happen."  --The US President to Anubis on Stargate SG-1

I'm pro-MySQL.  Not even if I thought sticking with filePro was a sound
business move would I do what you ask.  I do feel it's a wise move
in -some- situations where re-development cost is prohibitive or the
application is fairly static (like, I can't see John at Nexus rewriting
20+ years of code in something else), but largely see fP as a sinking ship
best abandoned sooner than later for anyone that will have to upgrade their
systems in the future.  Meanwhile, I help those that are still sailing on
this ol' gal do the best they can in choppy waters.  There's simply no way
in hell you could -buy- my participation in your little scheme.  I have
ethics that I won't compromise, Bud.

There are many ways you could help fP-Tech and filePro, Bud.  This ploy of
yours ain't one of 'em.

Maybe the community was better off when you -were- just lurking, after all.
They asked for substantive information on the future of filePro and you
spout off a -vague- something about fPXML and wishlist items and drop this
very important conversation on the ground, pretty much completely ignorning
people's needs.  Now you come up with this petty playground stuff and think
it's important enough to post?  

Yeah, I agree you were actually probably right the first time--silence
appears to be your best option.  At least then there's some room for the
benefit of the doubt.

mark->