Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see where the 500 number comes from. Is this the number of people registered on maidsafe.org or … ?
It would read more accurately to say the community is now over 500 people (they are not all developers). There are quite a few groups who are developers creating apps that I have spoken to. I wish they all came here or the dev list instead of direct to me though. The dev list has over 500 (508) members now and growing fast. You do not need to be a member to post though.
Its a good sign for us all and a positive start. Lets hope as the testnets come out this is thousands and not hundreds 
Maidsafe.org currently has 139 registered users, with 40-50 unique registered users visiting every day. Steadily growing though, the forum is just one month old.