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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."
Since when is a request for an interview a "job offer"?
Pride goeth before a fall. The classy thing to do would be to thank the person (whose v- address signifies that they're a vendor, in this case a headhunter) and decline politely, then make your plans to piss on Gates's grave or whatever floats your boat.
Not to burst ESR's bubble, but it's not a job offer. It's simply a Microsoft recruiting vendor trolling for people who might be interested.
I get a similar e-mail every few months.
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
What a pompous ass.
Indeed. He actually used the words "piss on Microsoft's grave". That (and the preceding paragraph) says lots about his professionalism and conduct.
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.
Pompous ass sounds about right.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
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.
Look at his email. He takes credit for an entire movement? Cut me a break. His cathedral and bazaar paper was a bunch of pot smoking nonsense. What a blow hard. What did he write that was so amazing or complicated? His web site is all "I contributed to, was in a meeting with..."
The guy is a total fraud.
This is my sig.
This happened to me recently as well. I am not as well known as ESR in general linux circles, but those of you who mess around with audio software on Linux probably know me as the author of both JACK and Ardour. MS called me 10 days ago about a job, and emailed me again yesterday. The caller indicated that he knew all about my work on linux audio, and my feelings about MS, but assured me that "MS was changing". I was sent a URL for an PR/newswire "article" suggesting that MS was moving "toward open source".
Like ESR, I indicated to them that Microsoft was a company that I could never consider working for, under any circumstances whatsoever.
The recruiter is just doing his job. Why abuse the guy?
As big as Raymond thinks that he is, bullshitting with IBM execs and "maintaining" the jargon file doesn't make you a B-list celebrity.
I've always found the the way that people treat waiters, clerical staff, etc reveals alot about that person's character. Raymond's self-aggrandizing, insulting and borderline abusive reply says nearly all that needs to be said about him.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
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.
Well, whatever. I don't want to sound ungrateful for ESR's very real efforts, but the guy's credibility tends to be undermined whenever he comes up with this kind of thing. The letter to Microsoft is rude. It's pompous. It brings up an image of delusions of grandeur. It's a good thing he's no longer OSI head-honcho, IMO, and I fear that he set the wrong tone for what was to come.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I would use that language, and I worked for Microsoft in the past. I was stupid and left during the dot-com boom, thinking that the new dot-coms would offer better growth (I was wrong!).
Anyway, if approached by Microsoft today to come back, I would use language similar to his, only I would indicate different reasoning: their current policy shift away from pro-consumer, and restricting the user at every turn; treating every single customer like a criminal. Not allowing de-activation of Windows for license transfers. Implementing DRM throughout the OS. Suing customers who switch away from Windows, or sell old, retired licenses on eBay. Suing college students who resell UNOPENED academic licensing after Microsoft and their resellers refuse to honor the 30-day money-back guarantee, then when they settle out of court after being countersued for breach of contract, pay up big and then bind the customer to an NDA to hide the evil.
Fuck Microsoft. Really. This is coming from a former Microserf, and a former Microsoft fan.
As much as he's no doubt done a lot, he could do with toning his ego down a bit.
The people who are like ESR
You mean people too dumb to realize that the email was a template sent from a headhunter who is contracted to, but doesn't actually work as an employee of Microsoft?
Or do you mean people who are so absolutely lacking in sense and diplomacy that they go off like a loon on something like this, giving their "enemies" perfect ammunition in the form of "Gee, you're really thinking of open source stuff, huh? Well, you know... This guy (hands out a copy of this rant) is one of the key people behind that whole thing, and he doesn't exactly come off as stable, you know? Do you really want to trust your business to that guy? Or would you rather trust it to a company like us, with a long history and billions of dollars that isn't going anywhere?"
Or perhaps you mean people who are so self-absorbed that they dismiss the work of the entire OS community and take credit for their work?
Or maybe you meant someone who is so freaking delusional that he thinks he singlehandedly talked the Fortune 500 into examining open source?
I'm no MS fangirl, but jesus, if this is an example of a FOSS evangelist... There's a rather serious image issue, dontcha think? "Starving" the FOSS movement of resources like ESR might not be a bad idea.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
Somehow I just got this feeling that you pulled this "email conversation" out of your ass. I highly doubt a recruiter from Microsoft would make a typo like that.
After reading this, it is not difficult to understand why Open Source is not treated seriously. That ESR was offered a job at Microsoft is inherently interesting and amusing; his (public) reply makes him sound like a 14 year old boy trying to impress his friends with false stories of sexual prowess.
I'd certainly chip in to get him to shut the fuck up for once.
It's a strange world -- let's keep it that way
gpsd? Or does code not qualify as code?
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...
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.