An aging community we are

[Fairlight]

Only Jose Lerebours would say something like:
> Following the post I submitted a moment ago, I had to stop and think how
> long its been since I started writing code.  I am a very young 41 years
> old man (no, there is no doubt in me, I am a man).

I'm 38 going on 192.  :)

> I recall commenting with some other developers how young we were then
> compared to other filePro developers we knew - This is almost 20 years
> ago.  My hope is that we have a bunch of low 20s calling me "old" as
> supposed to "older" guys/gals calling me "young".

Well, it doesn't seem like the average age of the community has done
anything but go upwards to me.

> That being said, any idea on the age groups of our community?  Has anyone
> taken in some young blood and trained then in filePro to the point where
> they are sitting comfortable that they are feeding the "Next Generation"?
> I sure hope so and let them boldly go where no filePro developer has ever
> gone before.

I don't personally know of anyone under 30 that's a regular contributor to
the community.  With Bob Stockler's passing, I think JPR is the oldest
regular contributor (to my knowledge) around here.  I don't know how old
Jay and Brian are, but I think Brian is somewhere a couple years either
side of me, and I'd guess Jay is the same but could be wrong.

I honestly can't think of anyone that actually speaks up that's under 30.
I just can't.  There may be some out there that inherited a fP system here
or there, but I strongly suspect that the tendency of anyone in their 20's
would be to chuck the whole thing after rewriting it in SQL plus some
front-end...  Or worse...Access, God help us.  Most likely back-ends are
probably MySQL, PgSQL, and MSSQL.  Most likely front-ends are...well,
that's going to be a bit wider, but the top ones I'd think would be Java,
VB, and Delphi on the conventional side, and (-unfortunately-) PHP on the
web side.  (Incidentally, it's -amazing- the things I've seen written in
Delphi in the last couple of years.  Just amazing results and products!
I'm about ready to take a serious look at that one of these days, because
I've seen some really, really neat stuff.)

I think part of the issue is that, back when I started, SCO was still a
serious contender--whether I liked it or not--in the business world.  With
the attrition they've faced, one of the primary platforms on which one
would be introduced to filePro has become far more scarce. filePro was also
advertised and even listed in magazines and comparative reviews back then
(which is actually how we found it at the shoppe I was at).  That's really
not the case anymore, as it belongs to a class of development application
that's by and large past its sell date.  I can't think of any of the
packages that are still alive.  I -think- DBase is dead, Paradox changed a
bunch and then may or may not have died (at a minimum it was rebranded),
Magic I haven't heard anything of in years...  All the contemporaries
folded, and there's nothing to compare this to anymore because all the
analogues are more or less relegated to a dim time in history.  Fairly
ancient history by tech-sector standards.

So without the continued prominence of the primary platform of choice, and
with DOS gone the way of the dodo, and the Windows port having come in
far too late (and not being a very good port--console mode and all), the
exposure for the product is a lot less than it was a decade and a half or
so ago.  Even though the product is actually supported on Linux, FreeBSD,
Solaris, possibly AIX although I thought they were a full version behind
due to lack of a place to compile 5.0 or 5.6 for a while at least...  Well,
it's just never gained the same traction it had on SCO.

I'm figuring that unless someone gets hired on as a replacement for a
dearly departed or a retiree, there's not much chance of exposure, either.

Which means that the average age of the community is pretty much bound to
stay high and get higher.  And as people retire or pass away, it's going to
keep shrinking, as well.

Could be wrong, but that's how I'd call it.

Let someone prove me wrong.  Anyone here that's actually under 30,
raise your hand by posting a reply stating as much.  If you are under
30 and actually got into the product -without- inheriting an existing
installation, definitely state that.

My guess would be at best 3-5 people raise their hands for under 30, none
raise their hands for getting into it via some other means than inheritance
of an existing installation.

mark->
-- 
"I'm not subtle. I'm not pretty, and I'll piss off a lot of people along
the way. But I'll get the job done" --Captain Matthew Gideon, "Crusade"