Oh brother, here we go again. First of all, it's not a Free Trade issue, I can't exactly go to India and grab one of these jobs.
But, really, there is a much more important issue that doesn't seem to be getting airtime. As a software developer, I have no problem with India or any other country doing my job. However, claiming that this is all just "capitalism at work" and developers should just "suck it up" is a specious argument, at best. I pay taxes to support the government, which in turn supports the citizens and corporations here in the US (I'm not interested in addressing whether this is the proper function of govt., that's just how it is right now). These corporations are taking those government granted favors (in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, trade favors, patent and copyright protections, use of infrasturcture resources such as highways, etc etc etc ) and hiring people overseas. Now, if MS or IBM wants to move their headquarters over to India, fine, so be it. But I truly believe it's a crock to take advantage of the pro-business US laws, excellent infrastructure, a competent policing force, and all the other services that developed under our system of capitalism, and then not supporting the community that supports you. I'm not talking handouts or redistribution of wealth, I'm talking about the long-term consequences of this sort of policy. Yes, US software developers cost more, but the cost of that worker is factoring in a lot of "unseen" advantages that are granted to companies founded here.
The environment that allowed MS and IBM and all the rest to grow and prosper is unique to the United States. These companies would have never happened if they had started in India.
I'm soooooo tired of people claiming Gates (or MS for that matter) created BASIC. The language and compiler were invented in Dartmouth while nine-year old Bill Gates was hundreds of miles away in his nice cushy private school in WA. Hell, even the original C reference pre-dates the formation of MS.
As was mentioned by another poster, MS is a marketing marvel, but this myth about it's founders being technnical geniuses has just got to go. It scares the kids...
It's been a looooong time since Xenix was seriously used or promoted. If your point was that they adopted a system "not their own", okay, I'll grant you that. However, I'd also argue that MS is in a VASTLY different position than when it bought Xenix in '79.
As to your second point, I would argue that purchasing the license from SCO was nothing more than a mechanism to help prop up the SCO Linux lawsuit. I haven't seen anyone mention the new SCOLonghorn GUI. =)
MS will never adopt/modify a BSD or Linux system. Their culture simply wouldn't support it. They want to control everything about the code they write and use - what you see, what you can edit, what you can critically analyze. They honestly believe (through hubris, not maliciousness) they have assembled the brightest developers on the planet. Everyone else is simply a hack or unenlightened. Sure, they take a few things from "outsiders", but they are always slightly modified due to percieved deficiencies. Some people call this "embrace and extend", but, from my experiences there, I believe it is simply the attitude that they know how to do it BETTER. I'll leave the judgement of the end result as an exercise for the reader.
There is always someone better, faster, smarter, or more creative than you. Suck it up, be happy there are things to learn from others, and share what you know. MS has tremendous resources and I'd love to see them join the rest of the tech community instead of constantly trying to force the computing industry to adopt their worldview.
Heck it'd be nice to get that on a video at the end of the aisle so you wouldn't have to go into the crowded aisle itself.
Yeah, especially when you're in one of those "bad parts" of the library. You don't want to be seen hanging around with the wrong sort of bibliotheque riff-raff. Imagine running into a surly group of business majors...*shudders*
Maybe I'm just too much of a geek...but this robot takes all the fun out of going to the library. When I need to find information on a subject, I find the general area and then leaf through as many related books as I can. Gives you a much better overview of the subject to see it from different perspectives, you discover new ideas and relationships to other subjects.
Bah! In my day, we actually read the books...and we LIKED it!
Obviously, you're still living in the old world. Along with the new laws of economics adopted in the 90's we also adopted the new laws of physics. Didn't you get the memo?
Like any large company, the attitude and business practices of Microsoft are simply a reflection of the values of the management of the organization and the incentives that the company has put in place.
"People cared about their code being as bug free as possible and were willing to sacrifice their weekends and social lives in order to write the best code they could."
Assuming this is true, then you have to wonder why the Windows operating system currently has so many security issues. Either Microsoft DOESN'T hire the best and the brightest, or the best and the brightest are over-ruled and ignored by those in management due to other "priorities".
Re:Another 'comissioned' report...
on
Security FUD On Linux
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
It may not be that people actually believe them....they WANT to believe them. Many companies have invested millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours setting up and supporting Microsoft infrastructures throughout their organization. The people who recommended, funded, and built these networks aren't exactly looking to be first in line to admit it was a bad decision. As long as MS puts out millions of dollars of ads and studies claiming that "everything is fine" or "everything will get better" or "the other options are just as bad" many companies will try to convince themselves that the market-speak is true. Psych 101.
I don't think any particular yummy gumdrop can be considered the Platonic ideal. Each gumdrop is designed such that one will always outshine the other in a specific set of factors. ZuperSugarSweets may contain more sugar in benchmark X, while YummyInMyTummy is chewier and lasts longer in benchmark Y, while GelatinousSurprise is more flavorful in benchmark Z, etc. etc.
Without any sort of government defined perfect yummy gumdrop, how can we possibly make up our own minds about which computer to buy?
If you listen to the movie commentary on the DVD, they tell you the original idea for the beginning had no introduction speech by Sutherland...it was forced on the director by the studio.
I'm so glad studios are doing my thinking for me...I suppose the next step is subtitles telling you to "laugh now" or "look contemplative".
Mozilla was made for cross-platform compatibility, and this probably adds to the bloat, however that's not what they were looking for. They wanted small and fast.
Um, these goals aren't necessarily mutually exclusive (*cough* Opera *cough*). Perhaps, KHTML is simply better designed and better written. Personally, I think the KHTML team did the right thing by adding layers of functionality in each release rather than trying to get everything in there at once.
Do one thing and do it well. Then add features, if you must. =/
Slashdot Mirror
But, really, there is a much more important issue that doesn't seem to be getting airtime. As a software developer, I have no problem with India or any other country doing my job. However, claiming that this is all just "capitalism at work" and developers should just "suck it up" is a specious argument, at best. I pay taxes to support the government, which in turn supports the citizens and corporations here in the US (I'm not interested in addressing whether this is the proper function of govt., that's just how it is right now). These corporations are taking those government granted favors (in the form of subsidies, tax breaks, trade favors, patent and copyright protections, use of infrasturcture resources such as highways, etc etc etc ) and hiring people overseas. Now, if MS or IBM wants to move their headquarters over to India, fine, so be it. But I truly believe it's a crock to take advantage of the pro-business US laws, excellent infrastructure, a competent policing force, and all the other services that developed under our system of capitalism, and then not supporting the community that supports you. I'm not talking handouts or redistribution of wealth, I'm talking about the long-term consequences of this sort of policy. Yes, US software developers cost more, but the cost of that worker is factoring in a lot of "unseen" advantages that are granted to companies founded here.
The environment that allowed MS and IBM and all the rest to grow and prosper is unique to the United States. These companies would have never happened if they had started in India.
As was mentioned by another poster, MS is a marketing marvel, but this myth about it's founders being technnical geniuses has just got to go. It scares the kids...
As to your second point, I would argue that purchasing the license from SCO was nothing more than a mechanism to help prop up the SCO Linux lawsuit. I haven't seen anyone mention the new SCOLonghorn GUI. =)
There is always someone better, faster, smarter, or more creative than you. Suck it up, be happy there are things to learn from others, and share what you know. MS has tremendous resources and I'd love to see them join the rest of the tech community instead of constantly trying to force the computing industry to adopt their worldview.
Yeah, especially when you're in one of those "bad parts" of the library. You don't want to be seen hanging around with the wrong sort of bibliotheque riff-raff. Imagine running into a surly group of business majors...*shudders*
Bah! In my day, we actually read the books...and we LIKED it!
Free food, free rent, and free utilities.
"People cared about their code being as bug free as possible and were willing to sacrifice their weekends and social lives in order to write the best code they could."
Assuming this is true, then you have to wonder why the Windows operating system currently has so many security issues. Either Microsoft DOESN'T hire the best and the brightest, or the best and the brightest are over-ruled and ignored by those in management due to other "priorities".
It's a delaying tactic, and a very effective one.
Without any sort of government defined perfect yummy gumdrop, how can we possibly make up our own minds about which computer to buy?
Sorry, just couldn't resist.
Must be the new EULA.
There's a joke somewhere in there involving mildly warm water, the justice dept., and a dropped bar of soap...but I'm too tired to find it right now.
Agreed!
If you listen to the movie commentary on the DVD, they tell you the original idea for the beginning had no introduction speech by Sutherland...it was forced on the director by the studio.
I'm so glad studios are doing my thinking for me...I suppose the next step is subtitles telling you to "laugh now" or "look contemplative".
=/
Um, these goals aren't necessarily mutually exclusive (*cough* Opera *cough*). Perhaps, KHTML is simply better designed and better written. Personally, I think the KHTML team did the right thing by adding layers of functionality in each release rather than trying to get everything in there at once.
Do one thing and do it well. Then add features, if you must. =/