I generally agree that experience is key, but as far as getting your foot in the door, it matters. I went to one of the top CS schools and have no doubt that the name helped get me where I am.
I do plenty of recruiting and since we can't visit every school, we pick the best. So, it's not just a matter of the education you get, but the opportunities that are presented to you. I believe that you can get a great CS education without going to a well known school, but your opportunities will be different.
I was in a similiar situation. I had been using Linux on my desktop for years and only booted into Windows for games and other things. Once I left school started working I was developing on Linux all day. By the time I got home I wanted a system that "just worked" for my simple needs at home. Windows 98 didn't cut it, so I took the plunge and bought XP.
I was hooked. It solved all of my home computing needs.. and best of all.. it worked with virtually no effort (maybe I'm just lucky).
Recently I reinstalled Linux because I wanted to do more development work at home and was just more comfortable developing in a Unix environment. Other than that, at home I use XP full time.
Maybe some of the problem lies with the publisher. Personally I don't know what contracts with authors are like, but it really sounds like author's get a raw deal (correct me if I'm wrong).
The lead in to this article is yet another example of Slashdot's bias and ever present editorialization of their articles. Granted, the/. editors didn't write the lead in, but they certainly didn't stop it from being posted.
The reader only gets a semi-equal view if they look at the article's comments.
You're right, a lot of SDKs are available for free (thanks for the list, btw:), but I'd like to see more of the tools available at low prices for individual use.
Going a bit off topic here... the academic licenses are great, but as a "professional" developer I'd like to be able to use Microsoft's development tools at home to get a feel for them. I think this increases my effectiveness as a developer and rounds out my view of the tools available.
Yeah, $89 for an academic license isn't bad. Too bad I'm not in academia..:)
One particular thing I found annoying was that their SQL Server development license was $500. Now, that makes sense for a company, but after using SQL Server a bit in a corporate environment I wanted to play with it at home. I'm just not going to part with $500 for home use. I guess I can try to "extend the life" of their 30 day trial edition..:)
What I've never understood about Microsoft is why they don't have licenses that give people the opportunity to learn their product. In doing this they are shutting out a huge number of developers (not just students).
Whether you're in school or not, learning about developing in a Microsoft environment requires parting with some cash. Personally I'd love to have copies of Microsoft development tools just so I can learn about the technology, but I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars on a product just to try it out.
I'll pay media cost, but nothing more. Until they offer that I continue to use other tools and environments for "recreational development". I'd like to learn more about their technology, but they apparently don't want that to happen.
Subscriptions are fine, but if you are going to charge for your content would you please invest a little more time in -editing- what is posted. I'm not going to pay for a site that is filled with typos, editorial comments and out of date articles.
Rather than just saying "pay to get rid of the ads", why not offer "a better/. with your support".
I wouldn't pay for a print magazine that is as poorly edited as this site.
The big problem with ESR's argument is that it assumes Microsoft will stand still and let this happen to them. I have to think they have slightly better business sense then that.
As prices drop they will begin to look for other revenue streams. In fact, they already have. Look at.NET. It is the underpinnings of a services based model (although they admit they don't quite know how to make money from it:). Products such as the XBox are putting Windows in new places and if the rumors of a "Home Station" end up being true then we'll continue to see them pushing it into other parts of the home.
Sure, Windows might change as the environment changes, but what else would you expect?
I couldn't aggree more. To take it a step further I don't understand why one would expect "Aunt Tillie" to even understand what a kernel is. Most people don't want to be bothered with the stuff -- they just want a computer that works.
Let's say some device isn't working properly and that happens to require a kernel rebuild. Aunt Tillie could care less about the fact that a rebuild is required, she just wants a working machine. The auto updater should take whatever steps are necessary to deliver what the user wants and expects.
It seems that among Gnome, KDE and the various other projects around there is a substantial amount of duplicated effort in developing applications that pretty much do the same thing. Many new programs have been developed just to add a new interface on to application logic which (for the most part) has been written before. I think it would be nice if the interface was abstracted from the application logic and then the user could opt to build it for whatever desktop environment they choose (granted, not an easy task). Do you see this as an issue and if so, are Gnome developers working on any solutions?
I have to say, it looks like a pretty good idea, but I think having parts of an application appear and disappear would confuse new users. It makes you sigh...
Slashdot Mirror
I generally agree that experience is key, but as far as getting your foot in the door, it matters. I went to one of the top CS schools and have no doubt that the name helped get me where I am.
I do plenty of recruiting and since we can't visit every school, we pick the best. So, it's not just a matter of the education you get, but the opportunities that are presented to you. I believe that you can get a great CS education without going to a well known school, but your opportunities will be different.
And it just uses Google behind the scenes.
I was in a similiar situation. I had been using Linux on my desktop for years and only booted into Windows for games and other things. Once I left school started working I was developing on Linux all day. By the time I got home I wanted a system that "just worked" for my simple needs at home. Windows 98 didn't cut it, so I took the plunge and bought XP.
I was hooked. It solved all of my home computing needs.. and best of all.. it worked with virtually no effort (maybe I'm just lucky).
Recently I reinstalled Linux because I wanted to do more development work at home and was just more comfortable developing in a Unix environment. Other than that, at home I use XP full time.
They certainly aren't the only game in town when it comes to used books. Naturally there is eBay and it's fixed price partner Half.com.
Maybe some of the problem lies with the publisher. Personally I don't know what contracts with authors are like, but it really sounds like author's get a raw deal (correct me if I'm wrong).
Ummm... does reading this story count as a page view? :)
The lead in to this article is yet another example of Slashdot's bias and ever present editorialization of their articles. Granted, the /. editors didn't write the lead in, but they certainly didn't stop it from being posted.
The reader only gets a semi-equal view if they look at the article's comments.
You're right, a lot of SDKs are available for free (thanks for the list, btw :), but I'd like to see more of the tools available at low prices for individual use.
Going a bit off topic here... the academic licenses are great, but as a "professional" developer I'd like to be able to use Microsoft's development tools at home to get a feel for them. I think this increases my effectiveness as a developer and rounds out my view of the tools available.
Yeah, $89 for an academic license isn't bad. Too bad I'm not in academia .. :)
.. :)
One particular thing I found annoying was that their SQL Server development license was $500. Now, that makes sense for a company, but after using SQL Server a bit in a corporate environment I wanted to play with it at home. I'm just not going to part with $500 for home use. I guess I can try to "extend the life" of their 30 day trial edition
What I've never understood about Microsoft is why they don't have licenses that give people the opportunity to learn their product. In doing this they are shutting out a huge number of developers (not just students).
Whether you're in school or not, learning about developing in a Microsoft environment requires parting with some cash. Personally I'd love to have copies of Microsoft development tools just so I can learn about the technology, but I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars on a product just to try it out.
I'll pay media cost, but nothing more. Until they offer that I continue to use other tools and environments for "recreational development". I'd like to learn more about their technology, but they apparently don't want that to happen.
Subscriptions are fine, but if you are going to charge for your content would you please invest a little more time in -editing- what is posted. I'm not going to pay for a site that is filled with typos, editorial comments and out of date articles.
/. with your support".
Rather than just saying "pay to get rid of the ads", why not offer "a better
I wouldn't pay for a print magazine that is as poorly edited as this site.
The big problem with ESR's argument is that it assumes Microsoft will stand still and let this happen to them. I have to think they have slightly better business sense then that.
.NET. It is the underpinnings of a services based model (although they admit they don't quite know how to make money from it :). Products such as the XBox are putting Windows in new places and if the rumors of a "Home Station" end up being true then we'll continue to see them pushing it into other parts of the home.
As prices drop they will begin to look for other revenue streams. In fact, they already have. Look at
Sure, Windows might change as the environment changes, but what else would you expect?
I couldn't aggree more. To take it a step further I don't understand why one would expect "Aunt Tillie" to even understand what a kernel is. Most people don't want to be bothered with the stuff -- they just want a computer that works.
Let's say some device isn't working properly and that happens to require a kernel rebuild. Aunt Tillie could care less about the fact that a rebuild is required, she just wants a working machine. The auto updater should take whatever steps are necessary to deliver what the user wants and expects.
It seems that among Gnome, KDE and the various other projects around there is a substantial amount of duplicated effort in developing applications that pretty much do the same thing. Many new programs have been developed just to add a new interface on to application logic which (for the most part) has been written before. I think it would be nice if the interface was abstracted from the application logic and then the user could opt to build it for whatever desktop environment they choose (granted, not an easy task). Do you see this as an issue and if so, are Gnome developers working on any solutions?
I have to say, it looks like a pretty good idea, but I think having parts of an application appear and disappear would confuse new users. It makes you sigh...