Who is even still working on a solution for the VMS?

[oshfdk]

I am convinced that as soon as someone is on the right track, we will notice right away.
...
This is where we're currently at. Believe me that we will notice when someone finds the light switch.

I agree. Some solvers describe the forum attitude as "too quick to dismiss new theories" and "not able to support a constructive discussion", while what I see is exactly the opposite. People here are willing to write many pages of posts discussing approaches that are highly unlikely, just because of a slim chance this may lead somewhere.

we can rule one thing out: there will NOT be an easy solution!

Easy in what way? I think if there is a solution, it's will likely be easy to explain, if not to follow. After all, I don't think a lot of concepts of the XV century have been irreversibly lost, so I don't think someone back there would have been able to come up with something that we won't easily comprehend nowadays. The problem is identifying what it is, and once we know what it is, it should be relatively easy to explain. Conversely, I think that solutions that are hard to explain are likely wrong.