>> It was presented as a representation of Microsoft's commitment to compatibility, but, IMHO, it's a shitty way to write an operating system...
You're right, it's a shitty way to write an OS. Unfortunately, if MS "breaks" some program because the ISV used undocumented APIs or reserved fields who do you think gets blamed? If that program has enough users (like anything Adobe makes) then MS has to make a check to restore the broken behavior for the bad app.
There's a story on some MS blog about a software vendor who forced MS to debug their software which broke on a Windows upgrade. Turned out they used a reserved field which the new version of Windows started using. And the vendor was like "You (MS) can't use that field! It's reserved!"
>> Make it so that if I find a bug, all I have to do is fix it and submit a patch. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
You don't know how frightening that is. Your bug is my feature. Your "fix" breaks me. Or your bug is an invitable side effect of some other necessary but non-obvious code. You can't just submit "fixes" with "nothing more, nothing less" in Linux. How in the fsck do you think you would ever be able to do this in Windows?
Mod me flame-bait if you like. I'm not ignorant enough to get modded "interesting".
Microsoft spends more money on research than any other company in the industry. Even more than IBM which is a far bigger company than Microsoft.
But wait, you ask, why hasn't Microsoft actually invented anything? It's simple: everything useful was invented back when Bell Labs was the dominant monopoly with the huge research budgets. And some more stuff (but not Unix!) was invented when IBM was the only choice. And Xerox Parc, of course, lasted just about until Canon and Ricoh started making good photocopiers.
Research spending comes from them with money. Microsoft's got it. And Microsoft's actually doing research. Funny joke, though. I can hardly contain myself.
Please save every business-related e-mail you receive. And you shouldn't be using work e-mail for personal purposes so please save every e-mail you receive. Thank you.
Inbox: 41559 messages (41551 read, 8 unread) Saved-messages: 4154854884569842455 messages You are usuing 12090% of storage capacity.
*That* KB? WTF? It's not like they translated one KB. They translated a mess of them. And the click-through rate from Spanish to English is in the low 30% range (I asked a MS researcher.) This implies that most readers understood the translated KB.
Have YOU read "that" KB, AC? Or are you just blowing smoke out of your ass?
Looking over this guy's blog it appears he's more interested in the social aspects of having a job than he is in the actual work. I think it may be a benefit for Microsoft to have lost him.
Example: The reporter claims Bellevue Square Mall is in "nearby Bellingham". A quick check of a map--Microsoft supplied or otherwise--will show that Bellingham is two freaking hours away from Microsoft campus. So where could Bellevue Square be? Um, Bellevue, maybe? A city which is, oh, yeah, right next to Microsoft's Redmond.
Face it: if Wired's reporter can't even be bothered to fact check a MAP how can you even believe that this article isn't a piece of overblown crap? The only difference between this Wired article and most Slashdot comments is that Wired actually prints on paper. This is a fine example of a fanboy whipping on Microsoft for instant anti-establishment credibility.
From TFA: "The majority of IBM's Linux users to date are technical users in the company's product development and research and development groups -- users who are technical enough to support themselves, the sources said."
When I interviewed at IBM (yeah, I know, but I interviewed for three days) I heard a LOT about how they don't sell computers. They sell solutions. They sell services. But the only Linux users are those who support themselves. Which means they don't need to buy services. QED.
Rebuttals can focus on hardware, goodwill, end-to-end solutions (DB2 and HPC clusters) but that doesn't change the economic reality. Linux is not any more profitable than any other niche market. Like OS/2 for example (which I proudly ran for many years and 3 versions...)
There's a resume link posted elsewhere in comments. This guy has a high-school education plus an associate's degree in some science-like field. He prominently lists attendance at a conference as his education and is thoughtful enough to include Notepad on the list of applications with which he's familiar.
Recruit him? Give me freaking break already. This guy's no different than the group that breaks the windows in your candy shop and then offers to sell you a "protection service" because "they wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
My guess is that the US government is using his ignorance and narcissism to screw him royally. And these are my tax dollars being well spent. Bravo!
The Register, which hates the Itanium with passion and hates Microsoft with glee, writes an article about Microsoft Windows being cut on the Itanium. And then Slashdot, News for Nerds, Stuff that matters, runs the story as...news? or maybe as stuff that matters?
And there's no comments about Linux on the Itanium. Or links to news about new Itanium chips in the pipeline. Or maybe gratuitous references to benchmarks like TPC-C of which no one has ever hear but will still be regarded as proof or some nebulous unstated point?
Obligatory snide troll remark to get my negative mod points: Wake me when the black & white Robosapien gets a yellow beak.
Likewise, Slashdot is NOT the computer marketplace. Which is why anyone from Redmond reading this doesn't give a crap.
As for me, I would like a reasonable and optional single signon. Yes, I have a passport because my nephew uses Messenger and they made me get one for that. But I also have a bunch of low-security usernames and passwords. My slashdot ID, for example, is protected with a weak password. Go ahead. Crack it. Ruin my life.
In solidarity with our Airbus-flyin' brethren I'm gonna run right out and install Real Player (now with Spyware!) on every winbox that can stand the performance hit.
Yes, I realize the article's about scientific names of organisms and Sonic's just a poor little old gene, but who reads the articles anyway? This guy at the U. Washington discovered a quickly changing version of the Hedgehog Gene (Hgg) and thus named it Sonic Hedgehog Gene. The amazing part is that Sega didn't sue. In fact, they were honored. And Sonic the Hedgehog (the Sega one) got to be on the cover of Cell magazine. non wikipedia reference here
First problem: you worked for MSN Ads. Can you think of a more bullsh*t division at Microsoft? You talked to your friends in other departments. Where? MSN Gaming Zone? X-Box? Maybe even Microsoft Money?
Microsoft has some solid coding divisions just like any big company. And Microsoft has some BS departments just like any big company. Is it any surprise that a division which "ships" every month is filled with sloppy coding practices, FUD and general CYA-motivated BS?
My area of Microsoft happens to be filled with people who could code the smirk off of almost any slashdotter. I work with people who have been in the business longer than most of the MSN Ads people have been out of diapers. And they are at Microsoft primarily because they are brilliant.
I'm sorry your experience at Microsoft was so disappointing and wish you well elsewhere but I can assure you that my time at MS has been quite intellectually fulfilling.
No offence to the Libertarians, but check out Click! cable which is owned by the power company in Tacoma, WA. If they'd offer service this far north I'd gladly buy my broadband and cable from their "low quality service". People in Tacoma love the fact that their government competes with Comcast.
Government doesn't have to be inefficient just as business doesn't have to be corrupt. Just because there's not an Enron and a Worldcom and a Tyco on your block doesn't mean that Verizon (to use your example) isn't spawned of Satan.
If this were true then not one person who previously worked at Microsoft would ever be able to work anywhere else. Rob Glaser, for example, who left Microsoft's media division to open up Real Audio.
Deny existence of the bug? Like Apple, maybe, who released a patch to "improve handling of long passwords" when what they really had was a critical security flaw? Microsoft at least admits when they have a critical security flaw and rates patches honestly.
Exhibit B: Apple. At least Microsoft calls it like it is and releases security bulletins that don't mince words. Google for "improve the handling of long passwords" and you'll see why MS has such a rotten security reputation: no one else admits they have a problem.
Except, I believe, for the Fantom vacuum. This Canadian company used the Dyson design for their first model which I still have after 9 years. Plastic parts have broken off and been replaced with bailing wire (literally!) and I've replaced a belt here and there but otherwise it's fantastic.
New Fantom vacuums are crap. They look like the old ones but they [do|don't] suck.
Point taken, thank you. But remember, MSDN is a marketing organization. Google "Raymond Chen" and "MSDN" to see what MSDN really is.
My definition of the Framework is the Common Language Runtime (known as the Common Language Infrastructure to ECMA). The Base Class Library is the set of Windows APIs built upon the CLR/CLI.
Keep in mind that I learned Java with AWT before Swing came along. But Swing didn't change Java. It changed the GUI APIs.
I'm not big on libraries. And I hate GUIs. Them there would be my biases.
Parent post said this: "I'm not sure we can be confident that Microsoft can't legally stop open source implementations of the the FRAMEWORK." My response: the FRAMEWORK is standardized, and by dint of being standardized, is open to other implementations. Not my fault that the parent post was titled "libaries" when it discussed "frameworks."
I did NOT address:
1. Whether MS will use nasty legal techniques to prevent other implementations. They haven't and I have no (logical or economic) reason to believe they will. Think what you want: I sure won't change your mind. But note that Miguel still hasn't been assassinated.
2. Whether MS will allow the libraries to be copied. I've done very little with Winforms but it appears to me that they're more useful on Windows. At some point aren't system API's more relevant to the actual system? I mean, you wouldn't expect MFC to work on X, would you? Or Cobalt to work on Windows?
3. Whether MS is evil. Answer me this: What did Coca-Cola do last year in patent law? Did you drink at least one Coke? Whom does your bank support politically? Do you agree with their activism? How did your broadband ISP manage to bring that fat pipe to your bedroom? Are they 3\/1|_ bastards too? Did they have real competition in the marketplace?
4. Whether I have enough karma to burn with this post. Here's my best try for a +5, Funny: These two ducks walk into a strip bar...
Uninformed slashdotters with tin foil hats should click this link. ECMA-335 Common Language Infrastructure (of which.NET, Rotor and Mono are implementations.)
Slashdot Mirror
>> It was presented as a representation of Microsoft's commitment to compatibility, but, IMHO, it's a shitty way to write an operating system...
You're right, it's a shitty way to write an OS. Unfortunately, if MS "breaks" some program because the ISV used undocumented APIs or reserved fields who do you think gets blamed? If that program has enough users (like anything Adobe makes) then MS has to make a check to restore the broken behavior for the bad app.
There's a story on some MS blog about a software vendor who forced MS to debug their software which broke on a Windows upgrade. Turned out they used a reserved field which the new version of Windows started using. And the vendor was like "You (MS) can't use that field! It's reserved!"
>> Make it so that if I find a bug, all I have to do is fix it and submit a patch. That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
You don't know how frightening that is. Your bug is my feature. Your "fix" breaks me. Or your bug is an invitable side effect of some other necessary but non-obvious code. You can't just submit "fixes" with "nothing more, nothing less" in Linux. How in the fsck do you think you would ever be able to do this in Windows?
Mod me flame-bait if you like. I'm not ignorant enough to get modded "interesting".
Microsoft spends more money on research than any other company in the industry. Even more than IBM which is a far bigger company than Microsoft.
But wait, you ask, why hasn't Microsoft actually invented anything? It's simple: everything useful was invented back when Bell Labs was the dominant monopoly with the huge research budgets. And some more stuff (but not Unix!) was invented when IBM was the only choice. And Xerox Parc, of course, lasted just about until Canon and Ricoh started making good photocopiers.
Research spending comes from them with money. Microsoft's got it. And Microsoft's actually doing research. Funny joke, though. I can hardly contain myself.
Please save every business-related e-mail you receive. And you shouldn't be using work e-mail for personal purposes so please save every e-mail you receive. Thank you.
Inbox: 41559 messages (41551 read, 8 unread)
Saved-messages: 4154854884569842455 messages
You are usuing 12090% of storage capacity.
*That* KB? WTF? It's not like they translated one KB. They translated a mess of them. And the click-through rate from Spanish to English is in the low 30% range (I asked a MS researcher.) This implies that most readers understood the translated KB.
Have YOU read "that" KB, AC? Or are you just blowing smoke out of your ass?
Looking over this guy's blog it appears he's more interested in the social aspects of having a job than he is in the actual work. I think it may be a benefit for Microsoft to have lost him.
Example: The reporter claims Bellevue Square Mall is in "nearby Bellingham". A quick check of a map--Microsoft supplied or otherwise--will show that Bellingham is two freaking hours away from Microsoft campus. So where could Bellevue Square be? Um, Bellevue, maybe? A city which is, oh, yeah, right next to Microsoft's Redmond.
Face it: if Wired's reporter can't even be bothered to fact check a MAP how can you even believe that this article isn't a piece of overblown crap? The only difference between this Wired article and most Slashdot comments is that Wired actually prints on paper. This is a fine example of a fanboy whipping on Microsoft for instant anti-establishment credibility.
From TFA: "The majority of IBM's Linux users to date are technical users in the company's product development and research and development groups -- users who are technical enough to support themselves, the sources said."
When I interviewed at IBM (yeah, I know, but I interviewed for three days) I heard a LOT about how they don't sell computers. They sell solutions. They sell services. But the only Linux users are those who support themselves. Which means they don't need to buy services. QED.
Rebuttals can focus on hardware, goodwill, end-to-end solutions (DB2 and HPC clusters) but that doesn't change the economic reality. Linux is not any more profitable than any other niche market. Like OS/2 for example (which I proudly ran for many years and 3 versions...)
I'm so confused. Itanium bad. Linux kernel scalability good. Help!
---
Posted as me for the negative karma whoring.
There's a resume link posted elsewhere in comments. This guy has a high-school education plus an associate's degree in some science-like field. He prominently lists attendance at a conference as his education and is thoughtful enough to include Notepad on the list of applications with which he's familiar.
Recruit him? Give me freaking break already. This guy's no different than the group that breaks the windows in your candy shop and then offers to sell you a "protection service" because "they wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
My guess is that the US government is using his ignorance and narcissism to screw him royally. And these are my tax dollars being well spent. Bravo!
The Register, which hates the Itanium with passion and hates Microsoft with glee, writes an article about Microsoft Windows being cut on the Itanium. And then Slashdot, News for Nerds, Stuff that matters, runs the story as...news? or maybe as stuff that matters?
And there's no comments about Linux on the Itanium. Or links to news about new Itanium chips in the pipeline. Or maybe gratuitous references to benchmarks like TPC-C of which no one has ever hear but will still be regarded as proof or some nebulous unstated point?
Obligatory snide troll remark to get my negative mod points: Wake me when the black & white Robosapien gets a yellow beak.
Likewise, Slashdot is NOT the computer marketplace. Which is why anyone from Redmond reading this doesn't give a crap.
As for me, I would like a reasonable and optional single signon. Yes, I have a passport because my nephew uses Messenger and they made me get one for that. But I also have a bunch of low-security usernames and passwords. My slashdot ID, for example, is protected with a weak password. Go ahead. Crack it. Ruin my life.
on blogs.msdn.com. That way you'll get answers on both sides of the religious wars.
(Go ahead, mod me troll. I'm already married so I don't have to impress anyone anymore.)
In solidarity with our Airbus-flyin' brethren I'm gonna run right out and install Real Player (now with Spyware!) on every winbox that can stand the performance hit.
>> Needs administrator privileges to install.
Thank god for that! Everything should require administrator privileges to install. Installing apps is a privileged operation.
Yes, I realize the article's about scientific names of organisms and Sonic's just a poor little old gene, but who reads the articles anyway? This guy at the U. Washington discovered a quickly changing version of the Hedgehog Gene (Hgg) and thus named it Sonic Hedgehog Gene. The amazing part is that Sega didn't sue. In fact, they were honored. And Sonic the Hedgehog (the Sega one) got to be on the cover of Cell magazine. non wikipedia reference here
First problem: you worked for MSN Ads. Can you think of a more bullsh*t division at Microsoft? You talked to your friends in other departments. Where? MSN Gaming Zone? X-Box? Maybe even Microsoft Money?
Microsoft has some solid coding divisions just like any big company. And Microsoft has some BS departments just like any big company. Is it any surprise that a division which "ships" every month is filled with sloppy coding practices, FUD and general CYA-motivated BS?
My area of Microsoft happens to be filled with people who could code the smirk off of almost any slashdotter. I work with people who have been in the business longer than most of the MSN Ads people have been out of diapers. And they are at Microsoft primarily because they are brilliant.
I'm sorry your experience at Microsoft was so disappointing and wish you well elsewhere but I can assure you that my time at MS has been quite intellectually fulfilling.
No offence to the Libertarians, but check out Click! cable which is owned by the power company in Tacoma, WA. If they'd offer service this far north I'd gladly buy my broadband and cable from their "low quality service". People in Tacoma love the fact that their government competes with Comcast.
Government doesn't have to be inefficient just as business doesn't have to be corrupt. Just because there's not an Enron and a Worldcom and a Tyco on your block doesn't mean that Verizon (to use your example) isn't spawned of Satan.
If this were true then not one person who previously worked at Microsoft would ever be able to work anywhere else. Rob Glaser, for example, who left Microsoft's media division to open up Real Audio.
Thank you. Next?
Deny existence of the bug? Like Apple, maybe, who released a patch to "improve handling of long passwords" when what they really had was a critical security flaw? Microsoft at least admits when they have a critical security flaw and rates patches honestly.
Exhibit B: Apple. At least Microsoft calls it like it is and releases security bulletins that don't mince words. Google for "improve the handling of long passwords" and you'll see why MS has such a rotten security reputation: no one else admits they have a problem.
Except, I believe, for the Fantom vacuum. This Canadian company used the Dyson design for their first model which I still have after 9 years. Plastic parts have broken off and been replaced with bailing wire (literally!) and I've replaced a belt here and there but otherwise it's fantastic.
New Fantom vacuums are crap. They look like the old ones but they [do|don't] suck.
Point taken, thank you. But remember, MSDN is a marketing organization. Google "Raymond Chen" and "MSDN" to see what MSDN really is.
My definition of the Framework is the Common Language Runtime (known as the Common Language Infrastructure to ECMA). The Base Class Library is the set of Windows APIs built upon the CLR/CLI.
Keep in mind that I learned Java with AWT before Swing came along. But Swing didn't change Java. It changed the GUI APIs.
I'm not big on libraries. And I hate GUIs. Them there would be my biases.
And five replies telling me what a fool I am...
Parent post said this: "I'm not sure we can be confident that Microsoft can't legally stop open source implementations of the the FRAMEWORK." My response: the FRAMEWORK is standardized, and by dint of being standardized, is open to other implementations. Not my fault that the parent post was titled "libaries" when it discussed "frameworks."
I did NOT address:
1. Whether MS will use nasty legal techniques to prevent other implementations. They haven't and I have no (logical or economic) reason to believe they will. Think what you want: I sure won't change your mind. But note that Miguel still hasn't been assassinated.
2. Whether MS will allow the libraries to be copied. I've done very little with Winforms but it appears to me that they're more useful on Windows. At some point aren't system API's more relevant to the actual system? I mean, you wouldn't expect MFC to work on X, would you? Or Cobalt to work on Windows?
3. Whether MS is evil. Answer me this: What did Coca-Cola do last year in patent law? Did you drink at least one Coke? Whom does your bank support politically? Do you agree with their activism? How did your broadband ISP manage to bring that fat pipe to your bedroom? Are they 3\/1|_ bastards too? Did they have real competition in the marketplace?
4. Whether I have enough karma to burn with this post. Here's my best try for a +5, Funny: These two ducks walk into a strip bar...
Uninformed slashdotters with tin foil hats should click this link. .NET, Rotor and Mono are implementations.)
ECMA-335 Common Language Infrastructure (of which