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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."
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
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...
George Bush offers Michael Moore a cabinet position. Hilary Clinton becomes spokeswoman for Rockstar Games. Tipper Gore and Dee Snider release a duet album.
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.
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.
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."
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.