Guess we hit a hot button. An idiot blathers uninformed opinion, is called on it, and confirms his membership among the submorons by engaging what I'm sure in his little brain is actually witty banter. An idiot who by his own admission doesn't use Linux and has zero investment in how it's developed.
No max, it seems *I* hit a button here. Nobody is really sure if the current structure is really feasible, but apparently everyone is informed and expert enough to decide that anything else that is theorized as an alternative would absolutely not work. But that's OK I suppose. It's always OK so long as I agree with how the King and his barons are running things, yes?
As for my witty banter, I figured you deserved as much after your childish and trollish accusation of jealousy - but I see that you're groping for the exit now so we'll leave it at that. I'm not thinking of increasing my investment in Linux other than continuing to purchase it instead of downloading it (oh, BTW, I hope to disappoint you but I do use it, except no longer as my workstation OS), so my vote will go to the distros instead, which I honestly hope can continue to tell their heads from their assholes.
Thank you for your invigorating opinions max. I hope you submit many a more patch to Linus and the world is better off because of that.
But it's quite clear that you have some trouble distinguishing between what people have to live with (e.g., a real government in a nation they reside in) and what they don't have to live with (e.g., using Linux). Try wrapping your brain around the incredibly vast gulf that separates the two - if you can.
This is getting rather weird maxie. First you said that I'm jealous because I'm not a 1337 kernel hacker and asserted that my life has no meaning because I've never submitted a patch to Mr. Torvalds. And now you're accusing me of being unable to differentiate between the country I live in and the software I put in my computer?
If you admit to having no involvement in the process, how on earth can you intelligently comment on how that process needs to be improved?
Software is software is software. It doesn't matter if I can download the code or I have to pay for it, it still has to follow a given procedural sequence in order to be pushed out the door. It might come as a shock to you, but Linus Torvalds did not invent the software development process, and he is also not doing anything to improve it (nor is anyone in there). We all want to write kewl code, but how many of us can actually manage the process? Or are actually interested in doing so? It's not hard to figure out - all you need is to follow the kernel mailing lists and use one or two brain cells. There is nothing hidden or mysterious about the Linux development "methodology". Or are you suggesting you just can't figure out who does what and how?
Quality assurance management and things of that sort may be no more than a Dilbertian nuisance to people like you, but they're actually quite useful, trust me.
Sure you are free to have an opinion, but at least have the maturity to admit that it is an *uninformed* opinion, and leave it at that.
Let me rephrase that for you: I can't really grok your opinion, so it must be wrong.
If you've already changed your OS, then precisely what bug is up your ass? You've hardly a leg to stand on if you've no involvement with the issue whatsoever.
Oh, but that was just my opinion. I don't give a flying fuck whether you think I'm "entitled" to it or not. This is a discussion forum maxie!
Your (along with your fellow members of the Linus Praetorian Guard) position of "if you haven't submitted a kernel patch in the last 24 hours then shut the fuck up" has always been and will always be detrimental to the health of the community, if one can call it that these days. The "you're an outsider, you don't understand, fuck off" deals coming from all of you seem more and more like the type of thing the Open community intended to avoid. "Shut up and take your medicine. We know what's good for you". Now where have I heard that before.
And then of course there's the tired old "fork your version" or simply "use another OS, fuckface". That is what endears you so much to the companies and corporations (and users) that Linux was supposed to take over like a howling avatar from the grasp of the Evil Empire and laugh all the way to the bank. I'm still waiting for the fat lady to sing.
But anyway, surely even in your advocacy-blurred vision you can see that your current "government structure" will cease to function as soon as the project reaches a certain mass. Then it's no longer a bazaar - it's just an aimless gaggle.
The thing that Linus created -in my opinion- is an excellent piece of software design and architecture and deserves better than that. But he has to see that for himself.
As for my "sad and twisted view of life", don't make me laugh. We're talking about software, and specifically, about reality regarding that software. If you don't happen to like that reality then that's just too damned bad, eh?
That was my point exactly maxie - for some reason you were equating your Tao Of The Kernel to my existential bliss. Are you contradicting yourself again?
None of these 'arguments' are more than nebulous, poorly-defined horseshit without so much as a smidgeon of hard evidence to back them up, but that doesn't stop the fools from spouting page after page of useless rhetoric.
Glad you're getting into the spirit of things. I'm sure everyone here is very sorry for daring to voice their opinions on something that by nature is wide open to constructive criticism. I guess that's the difference between a democracy and autocratic rule, the latter being what you seem to rabidly prefer.
In any case, don't let any of that stop you from contradicting yourself. It's actually very entertaining.
If you don't like the way things are done, you have the option of using some other OS. So stop your bitching and do it already - that's how you vote.
I already did a while ago, but thanks for your timely advice and wisdom.
You do *not* get to change the way things are done just because you're pissed that *you* aren't the one in charge, or because you're jealous that it isn't your name that's attached to a major OS.
My dear maxpubic, your insightful post (misguided as it is) reveals a lot about your own sad and twisted view of life. Do me a favor and stop assuming that everyone has the same short-sighted goals and irrelevant values as your sorry monkey self.
Part of the 'architect' job description is knowing when to cry uncle and say "damn, I goofed." If the overall quality of the end product requires it, then that's what one does, period. Nobody can realistically expect perfection, especially not as complexity climbs exponentially.
The other part of the job is knowing how to deal with these issues in a mature way.
The whole kernel thing has to stop being like the Holy Roman Church and more like a democracy. Although commercial, closed software benefits from a hierarchical leadership system where a small number of people have the final say on where a product is going, an open project that is so visible as Linux needs a more "for the people, by the people" approach. I understand the need for one person to maintain a semblance of control, the entire decision process as far as Linux is concerned is hampered by the autocratic style under which it has operated since it began to grow so explosively.
Linux doesn't need a "patch manager", it needs a House Of Commons or a Congress or whatever you want to call it. It can't do away with the president and the chiefs of staff, but it has to have a heck of a lot more checks and balances than it does now. And it definitely needs to be a lot less autocratic.
Eventually, we're going to see more and more forks as people begin to understand that the OS is no longer Alan and Linus' own private playground but a heritage of the people who use it every day. While they bicker and fight over who gets to play king on a given week, someone is going to pull the rug from under them. Royalty has always been tolerated while the populace is enamored with its trappings, but revolutions do happen once in a while.
The "astronaut" you refer to can be found in the city of Palenque. It's carved on the side of a tomb (the Paqa monol, if I remember correctly).
The theory was first made popular by Erick Von Daniken, who despite having a less than stellar reputation has always asked questions that can't be just explained away (Tiahuanaco, Nazca, Giza, etc.)
That said, I think this would probably be a bit deep for an Indy movie. 85% of the world can relate to the Ark of the covenant and the whatever immortal chalice thingy but this is a bit obscure, I think.
Microsoft execs *only* talk about how kewl their products are. Take.NET for example - the amount of "coolness" in this product far outweighs anything I've ever seen come out of Redmond.
Actually, I'm sick of "cool" coming from Microsoft. I'd much rather see substance than fluff (which they sometimes eventually deliver, I guess).
AOL on the other hand caters to brain-dead people so it's kinda difficult to expect them to avoid "cool".
- For creating what looks like a kick-ass single-player game. Online gaming is great but until everyone has a T1 in the living room...
- For creating a game with weapons that don't look like they came out of Star Wars. They look like they came out ouf Aliens.
- If the big-map capability is good, for creating a game that is not claustrophobic and feels more like Delta Force 2.
I played Unreal and UT to death. Unlike Q3A, I felt that I got my money's worth. I'm definitely going to spring for this one as soon as it hits the shelves.
What I have here at home (not at work) is an installed copy of JBuilder 3 Professional, which I clearly remember checking since I was surprised at the speed.
Sooooo, naturally I thought I was actually wrong since I posted without the necessary reference. Therefore, I downloaded a copy of JBuilder 5 Personal. I got the key from Borland and installed it. Guess what? No "pure java" there, either, my blabbering friend. And it's certainly significantly slower than version 3.
While what you see in the IDE might be Java, that doesn't mean that the *entire* product is written on it, which was my original point. Not by a long shot. It's also godawful slow on my dual P-III 700 with 512MB. Did I mention it's slow?
Now, if you want to go on with this very interesting conversation, please analyze whatever version of the thing you have installed, and come back and tell me you didn't find a single solitary native mode excutable module or component (other than the VM or the installer). Does that make you feel dizzy? Good. But since you insist on ignoring what I initially said and instead providing Borland's marketing blabber as sole evidence and gospel, the onus is on you. Lemme know.
And then *you* can apologize if you want - not that I really give a flying fuck. I'm not getting my nightly dose of CivIII just for sitting here and giving you the benefit of a response.
Would you care for any salt with that crow?:-)
No, not really. But would you care for a vaseline-coated cluestick?
Borland JBuilder(TM) IDE hosted on Java 2 SDK 1.3 for enhanced platform interoperability and performance
Thanks, AC. Now tell me how this translates directly to "this entire product is written in 100% pure unadulterated Java from the ground up. We're so proud of this, we're including it in the marketing material for the world and Sun Microsystems to rejoice".
And just how exactly (sarcasm) did you come by this amazingly insightful opinion?
Do us all a favor and check your facts before trying to "educate" people. JBuilder is not "100% pure Java" by any stretch of the imagination - not any more than my cup of Starbucks with cream is "100% pure Java".
I can't see the logic of building something like this in Java (of all things), except perhaps development speed...? Developers are the most impacient and nit-picky of all computer users, and an application this big written in Java cannot help but be god awful slow. If my every day develoment tools took 30-60 seconds to load *every time I open them* I'd probably gone into gardening a long time ago. Then there's the fact that they didn't use Swing or anything else I can identify. Weird.
FWIW, Borland knew this would happen to them if they did JBuilder entirely in Java, so most of it is done in what I assume is C++ (or Delphi, whatever. Anything that compiles). IMO JBuilder is the best dedicated Java editor, hands down (for Windows).
The concept of course is excellent. Some posters have mentioned the similarites with NetBeans but I think Eclipse is a lot more than an IDE with a plug-in architecture. I haven't played enough with it yet.
Then there's also VS.Net - other than the stock Microsoft languages there are connectors for Perl, Python (ActiveState) and Fortran (Fujitsu), among others. It's blazing fast, but again, that's largely because it didn't eat its own dogfood. Nothing this complex could have been written in C# and be as fast. Ergo, you don't write your development environments in interpreted languages.
The first option is probably not your best because you'll have to incorporate and this is not easy, although it's not particularly expensive in most cases. You do not have to do worker's comp and so on because you'll be the only employee (unless you're thinking of subcontracting - things get more interesting). You do have to have insurance and whatever your state laws require. The only problem is that many companies require a minimum yearly gross sales figure to consider you a 'company' - check with them first.
The second option is the best if you want to go independent. I used to live in that world. It's pretty stressful, but you do get to control your destiny to a certain extent. OTOH, you get no automatic Social Security, 401(k), medical benefits and so on. You'll have to do those yourself (and your taxes get complicated in a hurry, so look for a good crook^H^H^H^H^Haccountant =)
The third option varies widely among different companies. The 'W2' is the standard tax form you get in the mail every year if you're an employee. You have it easier there, but not all companies offer the same benefits (obviously check around). IOW, this is the "FTE", full-time employment position as I understand it.
Of course, the more difficult it is to pull off the consulting 'mode', the more money you rake in. Comparatively speaking, I was making tons more money when I was an independent consultant. Now I'm also a consultant but also a 'W2'. I'm considered sorta-hourly but I get full benefits, paid vacation and so forth.
I would probably just ask someone from HR in the company you're dealing with and make them explain what the exact differences are.
... is no one. Not Microsoft, not Sun, not IBM or CA or anybody else. Support for the IT industry from major software vendors is still enourmously lacking in all respects (don't get me started on the hardware folks, who it seems have 1 asshole for every 10 good people and I always get the asshole).
Now, many people will tell you that the reason support sucks is because of the profit "thing". The idea of "1 phone call in and there goes the profit for the shrinkwrap version" is ridiculous given the price of software, but still bandied about by everyone, including Microsoft. The hardware guys of course *can* make this argument since a few calls from granny and her brand new Gateway seriously cuts into the company's already strenuously thin margin.
Having said that, I can't agree with the assertions made by the distinguished submitter of this article (never mind that I don't really care what IT undergrads think). Microsoft's tech support, at the consumer level, sucks. But then so does IBM's and Oracle's and, for that matter, RedHat.
At the more advanced (and expensive) level, Microsoft support changes dramatically and becomes actually very good. Surprisingly good, even. My experience with 2nd and 3rd tier Oracle and IBM (software) support also confirms this. I only have consumer-level experience with RedHat (the first and last box I ever bought from them before I started downloading ISOs myself), and it sucked. Can anybody comment on the quality of high-level support from them or some other "we don't sell but we service" Linux/OSS companies?
I'm sure there are as many "he told me to RTFM" stories from users in both sides of the fence.
For those of you who enjoy Norse/Icelandic/Northern type stories and sagas, besides all the good info given here by other posters I'd recommend Eaters Of The Dead, by the guy who wrote Jurassic Park (yeah, I know). They made it into a movie (The 13th Warrior), which in most respects does do justice to the book, mainly because it's a short story.
Slashdot Mirror
Guess we hit a hot button. An idiot blathers uninformed opinion, is called on it, and confirms his membership among the submorons by engaging what I'm sure in his little brain is actually witty banter. An idiot who by his own admission doesn't use Linux and has zero investment in how it's developed.
No max, it seems *I* hit a button here. Nobody is really sure if the current structure is really feasible, but apparently everyone is informed and expert enough to decide that anything else that is theorized as an alternative would absolutely not work. But that's OK I suppose. It's always OK so long as I agree with how the King and his barons are running things, yes?
As for my witty banter, I figured you deserved as much after your childish and trollish accusation of jealousy - but I see that you're groping for the exit now so we'll leave it at that. I'm not thinking of increasing my investment in Linux other than continuing to purchase it instead of downloading it (oh, BTW, I hope to disappoint you but I do use it, except no longer as my workstation OS), so my vote will go to the distros instead, which I honestly hope can continue to tell their heads from their assholes.
Thank you for your invigorating opinions max. I hope you submit many a more patch to Linus and the world is better off because of that.
But it's quite clear that you have some trouble distinguishing between what people have to live with (e.g., a real government in a nation they reside in) and what they don't have to live with (e.g., using Linux). Try wrapping your brain around the incredibly vast gulf that separates the two - if you can.
This is getting rather weird maxie. First you said that I'm jealous because I'm not a 1337 kernel hacker and asserted that my life has no meaning because I've never submitted a patch to Mr. Torvalds. And now you're accusing me of being unable to differentiate between the country I live in and the software I put in my computer?
Amazing.
If you admit to having no involvement in the process, how on earth can you intelligently comment on how that process needs to be improved?
Software is software is software. It doesn't matter if I can download the code or I have to pay for it, it still has to follow a given procedural sequence in order to be pushed out the door. It might come as a shock to you, but Linus Torvalds did not invent the software development process, and he is also not doing anything to improve it (nor is anyone in there). We all want to write kewl code, but how many of us can actually manage the process? Or are actually interested in doing so? It's not hard to figure out - all you need is to follow the kernel mailing lists and use one or two brain cells. There is nothing hidden or mysterious about the Linux development "methodology". Or are you suggesting you just can't figure out who does what and how?
Quality assurance management and things of that sort may be no more than a Dilbertian nuisance to people like you, but they're actually quite useful, trust me.
Sure you are free to have an opinion, but at least have the maturity to admit that it is an *uninformed* opinion, and leave it at that.
Let me rephrase that for you: I can't really grok your opinion, so it must be wrong.
Hope that helps.
maxie,
If you've already changed your OS, then precisely what bug is up your ass? You've hardly a leg to stand on if you've no involvement with the issue whatsoever.
Oh, but that was just my opinion. I don't give a flying fuck whether you think I'm "entitled" to it or not. This is a discussion forum maxie!
Your (along with your fellow members of the Linus Praetorian Guard) position of "if you haven't submitted a kernel patch in the last 24 hours then shut the fuck up" has always been and will always be detrimental to the health of the community, if one can call it that these days. The "you're an outsider, you don't understand, fuck off" deals coming from all of you seem more and more like the type of thing the Open community intended to avoid. "Shut up and take your medicine. We know what's good for you". Now where have I heard that before.
And then of course there's the tired old "fork your version" or simply "use another OS, fuckface". That is what endears you so much to the companies and corporations (and users) that Linux was supposed to take over like a howling avatar from the grasp of the Evil Empire and laugh all the way to the bank. I'm still waiting for the fat lady to sing.
But anyway, surely even in your advocacy-blurred vision you can see that your current "government structure" will cease to function as soon as the project reaches a certain mass. Then it's no longer a bazaar - it's just an aimless gaggle.
The thing that Linus created -in my opinion- is an excellent piece of software design and architecture and deserves better than that. But he has to see that for himself.
As for my "sad and twisted view of life", don't make me laugh. We're talking about software, and specifically, about reality regarding that software. If you don't happen to like that reality then that's just too damned bad, eh?
That was my point exactly maxie - for some reason you were equating your Tao Of The Kernel to my existential bliss. Are you contradicting yourself again?
None of these 'arguments' are more than nebulous, poorly-defined horseshit without so much as a smidgeon of hard evidence to back them up, but that doesn't stop the fools from spouting page after page of useless rhetoric.
Glad you're getting into the spirit of things. I'm sure everyone here is very sorry for daring to voice their opinions on something that by nature is wide open to constructive criticism. I guess that's the difference between a democracy and autocratic rule, the latter being what you seem to rabidly prefer.
In any case, don't let any of that stop you from contradicting yourself. It's actually very entertaining.
I already did a while ago, but thanks for your timely advice and wisdom.
You do *not* get to change the way things are done just because you're pissed that *you* aren't the one in charge, or because you're jealous that it isn't your name that's attached to a major OS.
My dear maxpubic, your insightful post (misguided as it is) reveals a lot about your own sad and twisted view of life. Do me a favor and stop assuming that everyone has the same short-sighted goals and irrelevant values as your sorry monkey self.
Part of the 'architect' job description is knowing when to cry uncle and say "damn, I goofed." If the overall quality of the end product requires it, then that's what one does, period. Nobody can realistically expect perfection, especially not as complexity climbs exponentially.
The other part of the job is knowing how to deal with these issues in a mature way.
To be honest I think that whole model is flawed. But that's just me.
The whole kernel thing has to stop being like the Holy Roman Church and more like a democracy. Although commercial, closed software benefits from a hierarchical leadership system where a small number of people have the final say on where a product is going, an open project that is so visible as Linux needs a more "for the people, by the people" approach. I understand the need for one person to maintain a semblance of control, the entire decision process as far as Linux is concerned is hampered by the autocratic style under which it has operated since it began to grow so explosively.
Linux doesn't need a "patch manager", it needs a House Of Commons or a Congress or whatever you want to call it. It can't do away with the president and the chiefs of staff, but it has to have a heck of a lot more checks and balances than it does now. And it definitely needs to be a lot less autocratic.
Eventually, we're going to see more and more forks as people begin to understand that the OS is no longer Alan and Linus' own private playground but a heritage of the people who use it every day. While they bicker and fight over who gets to play king on a given week, someone is going to pull the rug from under them. Royalty has always been tolerated while the populace is enamored with its trappings, but revolutions do happen once in a while.
Too bad Windows users are *all* categorized as stupid. Generalizations are bad no matter who you apply them to.
Maybe he's a male hooker.
LOL! You want to discuss this here? That gave me a chuckle, thanks.
The "astronaut" you refer to can be found in the city of Palenque. It's carved on the side of a tomb (the Paqa monol, if I remember correctly).
The theory was first made popular by Erick Von Daniken, who despite having a less than stellar reputation has always asked questions that can't be just explained away (Tiahuanaco, Nazca, Giza, etc.)
That said, I think this would probably be a bit deep for an Indy movie. 85% of the world can relate to the Ark of the covenant and the whatever immortal chalice thingy but this is a bit obscure, I think.
Wow
Sigh. Parent modded down to 0 in exactly 4 minutes. And here go a few more karma points.
There's Slashdot for ya.
OK, this is an interesting thing, so allow me to splurge some karma.
You might be starting what could possibly be the first successfull grassroots campaign at Slashdot.
Keep up the good work, but don't over do it. There's a difference between harassing the system and fighting it.
Microsoft execs *only* talk about how kewl their products are. Take .NET for example - the amount of "coolness" in this product far outweighs anything I've ever seen come out of Redmond.
Actually, I'm sick of "cool" coming from Microsoft. I'd much rather see substance than fluff (which they sometimes eventually deliver, I guess).
AOL on the other hand caters to brain-dead people so it's kinda difficult to expect them to avoid "cool".
- For creating what looks like a kick-ass single-player game. Online gaming is great but until everyone has a T1 in the living room...
- For creating a game with weapons that don't look like they came out of Star Wars. They look like they came out ouf Aliens.
- If the big-map capability is good, for creating a game that is not claustrophobic and feels more like Delta Force 2.
I played Unreal and UT to death. Unlike Q3A, I felt that I got my money's worth. I'm definitely going to spring for this one as soon as it hits the shelves.
Yay!
What I have here at home (not at work) is an installed copy of JBuilder 3 Professional, which I clearly remember checking since I was surprised at the speed.
:-)
Sooooo, naturally I thought I was actually wrong since I posted without the necessary reference. Therefore, I downloaded a copy of JBuilder 5 Personal. I got the key from Borland and installed it. Guess what? No "pure java" there, either, my blabbering friend. And it's certainly significantly slower than version 3.
While what you see in the IDE might be Java, that doesn't mean that the *entire* product is written on it, which was my original point. Not by a long shot. It's also godawful slow on my dual P-III 700 with 512MB. Did I mention it's slow?
Now, if you want to go on with this very interesting conversation, please analyze whatever version of the thing you have installed, and come back and tell me you didn't find a single solitary native mode excutable module or component (other than the VM or the installer). Does that make you feel dizzy? Good. But since you insist on ignoring what I initially said and instead providing Borland's marketing blabber as sole evidence and gospel, the onus is on you. Lemme know.
And then *you* can apologize if you want - not that I really give a flying fuck. I'm not getting my nightly dose of CivIII just for sitting here and giving you the benefit of a response.
Would you care for any salt with that crow?
No, not really. But would you care for a vaseline-coated cluestick?
Borland JBuilder(TM) IDE hosted on Java 2 SDK 1.3 for enhanced platform interoperability and performance
Thanks, AC. Now tell me how this translates directly to "this entire product is written in 100% pure unadulterated Java from the ground up. We're so proud of this, we're including it in the marketing material for the world and Sun Microsystems to rejoice".
And just how exactly (sarcasm) did you come by this amazingly insightful opinion?
Do us all a favor and check your facts before trying to "educate" people. JBuilder is not "100% pure Java" by any stretch of the imagination - not any more than my cup of Starbucks with cream is "100% pure Java".
I can't see the logic of building something like this in Java (of all things), except perhaps development speed...? Developers are the most impacient and nit-picky of all computer users, and an application this big written in Java cannot help but be god awful slow. If my every day develoment tools took 30-60 seconds to load *every time I open them* I'd probably gone into gardening a long time ago. Then there's the fact that they didn't use Swing or anything else I can identify. Weird.
FWIW, Borland knew this would happen to them if they did JBuilder entirely in Java, so most of it is done in what I assume is C++ (or Delphi, whatever. Anything that compiles). IMO JBuilder is the best dedicated Java editor, hands down (for Windows).
The concept of course is excellent. Some posters have mentioned the similarites with NetBeans but I think Eclipse is a lot more than an IDE with a plug-in architecture. I haven't played enough with it yet.
Then there's also VS.Net - other than the stock Microsoft languages there are connectors for Perl, Python (ActiveState) and Fortran (Fujitsu), among others. It's blazing fast, but again, that's largely because it didn't eat its own dogfood. Nothing this complex could have been written in C# and be as fast. Ergo, you don't write your development environments in interpreted languages.
My 0.02 of the year.
IANAL, etc.
The first option is probably not your best because you'll have to incorporate and this is not easy, although it's not particularly expensive in most cases. You do not have to do worker's comp and so on because you'll be the only employee (unless you're thinking of subcontracting - things get more interesting). You do have to have insurance and whatever your state laws require. The only problem is that many companies require a minimum yearly gross sales figure to consider you a 'company' - check with them first.
The second option is the best if you want to go independent. I used to live in that world. It's pretty stressful, but you do get to control your destiny to a certain extent. OTOH, you get no automatic Social Security, 401(k), medical benefits and so on. You'll have to do those yourself (and your taxes get complicated in a hurry, so look for a good crook^H^H^H^H^Haccountant =)
The third option varies widely among different companies. The 'W2' is the standard tax form you get in the mail every year if you're an employee. You have it easier there, but not all companies offer the same benefits (obviously check around). IOW, this is the "FTE", full-time employment position as I understand it.
Of course, the more difficult it is to pull off the consulting 'mode', the more money you rake in. Comparatively speaking, I was making tons more money when I was an independent consultant. Now I'm also a consultant but also a 'W2'. I'm considered sorta-hourly but I get full benefits, paid vacation and so forth.
I would probably just ask someone from HR in the company you're dealing with and make them explain what the exact differences are.
... is no one. Not Microsoft, not Sun, not IBM or CA or anybody else. Support for the IT industry from major software vendors is still enourmously lacking in all respects (don't get me started on the hardware folks, who it seems have 1 asshole for every 10 good people and I always get the asshole).
Now, many people will tell you that the reason support sucks is because of the profit "thing". The idea of "1 phone call in and there goes the profit for the shrinkwrap version" is ridiculous given the price of software, but still bandied about by everyone, including Microsoft. The hardware guys of course *can* make this argument since a few calls from granny and her brand new Gateway seriously cuts into the company's already strenuously thin margin.
Having said that, I can't agree with the assertions made by the distinguished submitter of this article (never mind that I don't really care what IT undergrads think). Microsoft's tech support, at the consumer level, sucks. But then so does IBM's and Oracle's and, for that matter, RedHat.
At the more advanced (and expensive) level, Microsoft support changes dramatically and becomes actually very good. Surprisingly good, even. My experience with 2nd and 3rd tier Oracle and IBM (software) support also confirms this. I only have consumer-level experience with RedHat (the first and last box I ever bought from them before I started downloading ISOs myself), and it sucked. Can anybody comment on the quality of high-level support from them or some other "we don't sell but we service" Linux/OSS companies?
I'm sure there are as many "he told me to RTFM" stories from users in both sides of the fence.
For those of you who enjoy Norse/Icelandic/Northern type stories and sagas, besides all the good info given here by other posters I'd recommend Eaters Of The Dead, by the guy who wrote Jurassic Park (yeah, I know). They made it into a movie (The 13th Warrior), which in most respects does do justice to the book, mainly because it's a short story.
Still, it's good reading.