Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

MS Hires The Salesman Who Won Munich For SUSE

Posted by timothy on from the incentive-plan dept.

ron_ivi writes "In a move reminiscent of the 1997 MSFT/Borland Lawsuits, Microsoft has hired the SUSE sales guy who won Munich for SUSE. So if you want a job in this tough job market, just be wildly successful at your current job and Microsoft will come recruit you. (Another interesting Microsoft hire is the chair of the ISO C++ standards body as their VisualC++.NET architect.) Personally I think it's great that they recognize talented individuals and reward them well."

17 of 422 comments (clear)

  1. it's war by jacquesm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, it's war, and microsoft is not above recruiting the enemy's best lieutenants.

    --
    MP3 Search Engine
    1. Re:it's war by DaHat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We call that corporate raiding when not referring to 'war' and it is a quite old and hated practice (at least when your offices are raided). Say all the ill you want about MS for doing this, but they are doing what any company would do, hiring the best people they can to do the job!

      --
      Help Brendan pay off his student loans
    2. Re:it's war by shawn(at)fsu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      An AC said it best. He is a sales man afterall.
      honest and displays a fair comparison between products

      When does any sales person do the above. He is out to make his companies product look better than any other, thats what SuSE paid him to do and thats what Microsoft will pay him to do. I love SuSE, it's been the only distro I use for years but even I can;t say anything bad about this or put this guy up for any honesty award.

      --
      500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
    3. Re:it's war by kiwimate · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, it's war, and microsoft is not above recruiting the enemy's best lieutenants.

      Oh grow up. You could just as easily spin this as Linux's best evangelists are mercenaries with no integrity; they can be bought by the enemy.

      It's business. RTFA and don't skip the bits about Juniper recruiting from Cisco, EMC recruiting from HP, etc. Guess what -- for all the childish railing against MS, they actually can't force someone to work for them. Can MS throw money at someone? Sure. Can a target of their recruitment strategy say no? Of course.

      And, by the way, I'm guessing MS probably didn't ring him up and offer him a job right away. Usually you start by feeling out if someone is interested before you start talking dollars. You can be aggressive in your negotiations, but he could always have just said no right at the beginning. Right? So why isn't this story headlined Traitor defects to the enemy MS camp?

  2. The moral of the story by Morganth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't be successful.

  3. I heard Linus made a counter-offer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of $0, but he opted to go with Microsoft anyway.

  4. Is Linux doing well in Munich? by jaf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Anyone know if they're happy with Linux in Munich?

    --
    -- jaf
  5. How long before by john_sheu · · Score: 5, Funny

    they hire Linus as head Longhorn coder?

    1. Re:How long before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What?! And put all the antivirus companies out of business witha secure os?

  6. We've got this great lead for you... by binbag · · Score: 5, Funny

    His boss: OK, you're on probation until you get this first sale. There's this council in Munich...

  7. Reminded of... by PeteDotNu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bill Gates: "Buy him out, boys."

    --
    My other processor is big-endian.
  8. C++ chair i think is old news by kzeddy · · Score: 5, Informative

    If its Herb Sutter you are talking about, he's been with microsoft for awhile now. He's posted a few articles on msdn about C++ on things like conformance and feature improvements to VS.net

  9. Juxtaposition of Headlines by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    Funny how, just after this:
    Your Rights Online: Few Takers For Microsoft's Settlement Cash
    we see this:
    MS Hires The Salesman Who Won Munich For SUSE
    Guess they found one taker for Microsoft cash after all :-)
  10. Re:Integrity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    Seems there isn't such thing as integrity.

    You do realize we're talking about sales here, right?

  11. so? by kperrier · · Score: 5, Insightful

    why is this news? He quit SuSE in 2003 and he got a new job.

  12. Ah, the good old days by RobertB-DC · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the C|Net article, dateline May 7, 1997:

    Yocam maintains that Microsoft is luring personnel away with huge signing bonuses, some in excess of $1 million. "They have the audacity to send limos to Borland's headquarters to take Borland employees out to lunch. I mean, this has got to stop."

    Ah, the good old days. Million-dollar signing bonuses. Limos for job prospects. Corvettes for hot programmers fresh out of college. Penthouse suites with the company logo in genuine Italian marble.

    Why did it ever have to end?

    Oh, wait, don't answer that...

    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
  13. Re:Makes Sense by Kainaw · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Microsoft is well known for their great hiring practices. I think you mean hiring choices. When I interviewed through their hiring practices, I went through two phone interviews and then an in-person interview on a golf course (I don't play golf, but the two interviewers do). I was told that I would be considered if I agreed to quit college and to never attempt to get a degree. I stuck it out, got a degree, and now I'm making about $30k less a year than if I had went with Microsoft. I feel that I learned a lot in those last two years of college - a lot more than I learned in the first two. A hiring practice that asks college students to quit school just seems like a bad practice to me.

    --
    The previous comment is purposely vague and generalized, but all of the facts are completely true.