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ESR Gets Job Offer From Microsoft
epsalon writes "Eric S. Raymond, the well known Open Source Evangelist, recently received a job offer from Microsoft, that he strongly refused. Is this another attempt to lure Open Source figures or just ignorance?" From his post: "I called [the Microsoft HR rep], who told me my name had been passed to him by his research team. I indicated to him that I thought somebody was probably having a little joke at his expense, and promised him an email reply."
Also, RMS got a boob job and Ben Collins had his hair cut. Front page news at 11.
Is slashdot a celebrity gossip site for geeks now or something?
ESR: I can't do that?
MS: Can't handle the isolation?
ESR: No, I have to sound off every now and then or people will forget about me!
MS: Well... that's what were actually shooting for.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"It's funny. Laugh" should have been at the top of the totem pole.
Sustainability and energy independence essay
1) Your office filetypes are made public
2) Your publicises the OS system server calls.
3) Stop funding biased reports.
4) Hey, while your at it: open-source Windows OS (all of them)...
When all is said and done, nothing changes...
Not surprising, really... With all the good people Microsoft's losing to Google, someone's got to pick up the slack.
how about asking bill to join the openoffice team?
George Bush offers Michael Moore a cabinet position. Hilary Clinton becomes spokeswoman for Rockstar Games. Tipper Gore and Dee Snider release a duet album.
I remeber this episode! ESR takes the job after Microsft offers to give ESR's son a "real life" and wipe everyone's memory.
The key difference between a Programmer and a Senior Programmer is that one of them is Mexican.
On the day *I* go to work for Microsoft, faint oinking sounds will be heard from far overhead, the moon will not merely turn blue but develop polkadots, and hell will freeze over so solid the brimstone will go superconductive.
Apparently he was also going to put in "and Slashdot begins using CSS", but took it out at the last minute.
Guy asked me for a quarter for a cup of coffee. So I bit him.
"I'd thank you for your offer of employment at Microsoft, except that it indicates that either you or your research team (or both) couldn't get a clue if it were pounded into you with baseball bats. What were you going to do with the rest of your afternoon, offer jobs to Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds?"
Right, because we all know ESR is on the same level with those two guys because he's responsible for uh... What exactly did he do?
Obligatory "Everboby loves Eric Raymond": http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/archive/show-them- the-code
you came off like a professional and stable person. thank goodness you are taking it upon yourself to represent the OS movement. certainly many other professional people will want to join you.
This
ESR's only valid response should have been to accept an interview and show up roaring drunk.
Eric Raymond's just this guy, you know?
Not every argument requires reduction to absurdity.
Here is a small digest of the reply to Microsoft:
"WHAT? You don't know me? Why, I am famous. Yes I am so, so famous! You must be an idiot if you don't know my name! Why I am your worse nightmare! I said that in a very famous online flame war! I am the famous open source guy! I am up there with Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds. You have heard of them, but you never head of me? But I am famous! Your an idiot if you don't know who I am!"
What a pompous ass!
Can't we get some open source advocates with charisma? Maybe we could all pitch in and hire an out of work TV actor to be our open source spokesperson, instead of the usual juvenile socially disaffected geeks.
The nearest example I could relate to would be getting a job offer (which isn't what this was either, btw) from the RNC. As much of a die hard liberal and Democrat as I am (and given that politics matters a lot more then software, imho anyway) I would not use this type of language in declining such a job offer.
... my bad.
Yeah, but you might not be quite so polite if the White Pride Party offered you a job, with insinuations that you'd be "just perfect" for the party.
Oh wait, that was your example
*duck*
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
clearly not /. worthy news :(
Two years ago you would have been right. But with the downhill bent that Slashdot has been on lately, this story is not only newsworthy, but will be duped sometime later today.
sulli, you rawk!
oh and i love this part:
and talked IBM and Wall Street and the Fortune 500 into buying in
i'm sorry... but this is just ridiculous.
yeah... ESR: get over yourself... sheesh... i get those kinds of emails 3 or 4 times a day. they aren't job offers.
*wonders if ESR jerks off to Revolution OS*-- eeewww... sorry about that dreadful image
sad robot making broken music
from esr's response it sounds like he and ballmer would get along nicely.
Microsoft Bob
Clippy
Outlook Express
Why would you want to make ESR more qualified to create products like those?
It is relevant since ESR once bragged up how rich he is (and how he wasn't going to let that change him, etc) when he was given some LNUX stock. He's not bragging too much about that anymore.
I've in fact been something pretty close to your company's worst nightmare since about 1997... wrote most of the theory and propaganda for [open source] and talked IBM and Wall Street and the Fortune 500 into buying in...I'd be just as determined to do in any other proprietary-software monopoly.
MS Exec: "Dear Lord, this guy is full of the worst concoction of bullshit and self-importance I've ever seen. We have to get him a position in marketing."
Oh dear sweet Jesus.
My mind automatically replaced "a woman" with "Bill Gates" in that last sentence...
Please excuse me while I attempt to remove my brain with my fingernails.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d Capitalization really works: i helped my uncle jack off a horse
Speaking for Ardour and JACK users everywhere, let me say "thanks". I'm recording guitar parts for a CD using Ardour, on top of imported bed tracks created on ProTools. I rather enjoy comparing notes with the producer:
Him: ProTools is great! You can apply plugins to tracks, as many as you want.
Me: Yep, me too!
Him: I have a really nice reverb plugin, compression, delay, distortion, lo-fi stuff, etc.
Me: Me too. Hundreds of them!
Him: You can slide tracks fwd/backward in time w/ ProTools!
Me: I can too!
Him: Mine is actually ProTools LT (or LE, whatever), so it only cost me $5,000 (plus the $6K for the Mac G5, of course)!
Me: Mine was free and runs on a $2K punk-ass PC running Linux!
Him: d00d, WTF?
Yeah because "professionals" only throw chairs and yell they are gonna KILL the competing company...
ESR can kill anyone he wants! ESR cuts off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it. This guy is so crazy and awesome that he flips out ALL the time. I heard that ESR was eating at a diner. And when some dude dropped a spoon then ESR killed the whole town. My friend Mark who was at LinuxWorld said that he saw ESR totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window.
Not a fangirl?
Marry me?
You really should really think carefully before using that "G" word... soon, there'll be 10 or so posts under here asking you to marry them.
Me? I'm just gonna ask for a date.
Hi!
I'd be more than happy to discuss potential job opportunities within Microsoft Corporation, but to simplify matters I'd appreciate it if you would take the time to answer a few questions beforehand:
1) Have you ever talked with a programmer not employed at Microsoft before? If so; how long ago, what was their name and where (tech fair, campus recruiting, etc.) did you speak?
2) Will Microsoft be prepared to change it's present policy, and start shipping working software in any of the following categories: OS Software, Office Software, Development Software, Home & Personal Software (including games), Educational Software? Please indicate any preferences as well.
3) If I accept employment, will I be allowed complete anonymity and deniability regarding my employment at the company, and, on terminating my employment prematurely due to subpoenaed or volontary testimony before a U.S. district or federal court, will I be guaranteed priority status in the FBI Witness Protection Program at company expense?
4) Has the company performed any gross violations of law or common business ethics, including, but not limited to: Wilfull abuse of monopoly, intentionally degrading the quality or reliability of the companys products in order to force customers to otherwise unneccessary upgrades, or creating compatibility conflicts in OS software in order to cripple superior competing products, in the past 12 months? (other than all such acts presently publicly known and upheld in ruling by U.S. district or federal court)
5) If I accept a position, what severance pay will I receive as compensation for the social stigma and damage to my professional reputation incurred by my accepting employment at Microsoft?
Please respond by either email to my address, spam@esr.ibiblio.org or telephone,(999) 999-9999. I can be reached weekdays during 10:14AM - 10:15PM, Nepal Time zone. Please leave a voicemail message at all other times.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Eric S. Raymond
Steve Balmer: "Please tell me you didn't try to recruit Eric Raymond."
Mike Walters: "It was Eric Raymond."
Steve Balmer does his Bobby Knight imitation.
Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
And a pretty funny one, too! If all it takes to get Eric's knickers in a knot is getting a form letter from a company recuiter (which he calls a "job offer"--makes you wonder how inflated the rest of his claims are!), then this is much too easy!
I suspect he'll start getting lots of calls from every fast-food joint and Starbucks around the country! And he'll be equally mad that *they've* never heard of him!
Best Buy can have you arrested