But it was by chance that I found BlitzMax the way I did, and there are somany others that are "shoppers" and would be highly skeptic to consider buying something with the last update being from "March" and also being called "monthly"
I'm not saying you don't have a point. I'm saying you don't have the numbers to back them up. I'm not at all doubting your storys accuracy, or that others may have come to the same (incorrect) conclusion you did.What BRL have going for it, more than any other development tool I've ever used (with the possible exception of Java + Eclipse) is two very dedicated programers working on the core product, and the quasi-fanatical users who endorse it, whether you want them to or not.
While it's true that the core product is only worked on by two people they are supported by a team of 16 beta testers (according to the credits - although I could swear they're out of date), and at least as many talented programmers who freely offer module tweaks, fixes and optimizations, on a near-daily basis. Add to that the number of open source projects that have contributed towards BlitzMAX and you begin to understand how a company which "on the surface" might appear small, manages to pull off something as complex as BlitzMAX in as little time as they have.
"Compilers take three times as long to write as applications, and adding more manpower to a late project will only make it even later" - Frederic Brooks (paraphrased) The Mythical Man Month, and other essays.