I thought Ellison was just buying Sun, not Scott McNealy's failed business plan. McNealy's disproportionate focus on Microsoft instead of Linux is the key reason why Sun is for sale.
"This will continue to happen as long as the US has an unfavorable political climate to business."
Compared to what country? Europe has higher taxes and more restrictions. Russia and China governments can still nationalize your business if they feel like it.
It's not really about the masses. It's the choices companies and governments make. Require all products domestic or foreign to be developed under decent conditions to be eligible for sale in the US and domestic companies will have no excuse.
I didn't say that all wealth is theft, but it stems from theft. Where did the raw materials for the widgets come from? Did they come from land that has been stolen sometime in the past? Did the US find a dictator or warlord to give money to while the people living there received nothing?
We obviously can't undo every wrong and I have no expectation that we will, but people have to get off their high horse when it comes to wealth - it's not fully earned.
I'm pretty sure the land that my California home sits on hasn't enjoyed a history of unbroken legal sales since biblical times. Do you really think there's any usable land on Earth that hasn't been stolen at least once?
I think this idea of a lack of engineers with "valuable and unusual skills" in the US is more myth than reality.
The primary value that the H-1B program has for companies is economic. If you convert these workers to citizens, you'll have to pay them competitive wages and they'll be free to change jobs. Not much economic value there.
It's funny how people complain that illegal immigrants are cutting to the front of the immigration line but there's always a place for athletes, actors, and celebrities to go to the front. Of course, there really isn't a line anyway.
Sure, because only people with advanced engineering degrees can be considered highly educated. Look at how IBM is focused on Linux. How could IBM have created Linux without their highly educated engineering PHDs.. oh wait.
Incorporation's primary purpose is to shield those who make the profit from the consequences of their company's actions. If this legal shield is ever removed we can start talking about everybody being on their own but it's absurd under current law.
"The fact is that Obama is a redistributionist who claims that jobs are owed and not earned."
Do you mean that people who are wealthy have a right to keep that wealth as God intended? All wealth stems from theft either now or in earlier eras. You aren't going to win this argument on the fundamentals so drop the pretense of caring about basic rights and discuss this pragmatically.
When the balanced is tipped, it makes business sense to reevaluate, but we haven't reached that point yet. Even if IE disappeared, you won't be able to design a web page that can be viewed on the other browsers and look the same. Per browser testing will always be necessary for serious work.
"So, if those people suddenly couldn't use half their favorite websites properly, and all of them had a disclaimer saying "This site only uses international standards. If you have problems, please try another browser.", how long would it take for most of them to do so?"
That's very unlikely to happen simply because a competitor would come along and say "Switch to our site and you can continue using the browser you already own".
Besides, I thought not having a choice is MS's rap.
The problem is that some website developers don't understand what they were hired to do. Their job isn't to pick the winners and losers in the browser market, but to maximize the number of visitors to their employer's site.
Only in the wacky world of web culture would providing content for the most common tool be considered an annoying afterthought in favor of also-ran tools. It's not about which browser is best, it's about which browser makes your company more competitive.
It was just an example. I actually worked at restaurants in my younger days and didn't enjoy it much. The point is that software development isn't a very good long-term profession if you're in it for the money. Having sacrificed stability for doing what I love, I'm not anxious to shift to support at this late date.
There are lots of ways to make money outside the software business besides selling hardware, providing support or expertise. If I didn't want to be in the business of writing and selling software I could open a restaurant.
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I thought Ellison was just buying Sun, not Scott McNealy's failed business plan. McNealy's disproportionate focus on Microsoft instead of Linux is the key reason why Sun is for sale.
You didn't answer my question.
One of the main issues is whether these jobs actually require a doctorate. Many companies see 8-10 years of experience equivalent to a doctorate.
Isn't pretty obvious by now that economics isn't really a science - Even the experts can't hold on to their money.
"This will continue to happen as long as the US has an unfavorable political climate to business."
Compared to what country? Europe has higher taxes and more restrictions. Russia and China governments can still nationalize your business if they feel like it.
It's not really about the masses. It's the choices companies and governments make. Require all products domestic or foreign to be developed under decent conditions to be eligible for sale in the US and domestic companies will have no excuse.
"You have a gaping vacuum right where the foundation of your beliefs should be."
That's funny. Please explain to me the error of my ways - what do you suggest should be the foundation of my beliefs oh wise one?
I didn't say that all wealth is theft, but it stems from theft. Where did the raw materials for the widgets come from? Did they come from land that has been stolen sometime in the past? Did the US find a dictator or warlord to give money to while the people living there received nothing?
We obviously can't undo every wrong and I have no expectation that we will, but people have to get off their high horse when it comes to wealth - it's not fully earned.
I'm pretty sure the land that my California home sits on hasn't enjoyed a history of unbroken legal sales since biblical times. Do you really think there's any usable land on Earth that hasn't been stolen at least once?
I think this idea of a lack of engineers with "valuable and unusual skills" in the US is more myth than reality.
The primary value that the H-1B program has for companies is economic. If you convert these workers to citizens, you'll have to pay them competitive wages and they'll be free to change jobs. Not much economic value there.
It's funny how people complain that illegal immigrants are cutting to the front of the immigration line but there's always a place for athletes, actors, and celebrities to go to the front. Of course, there really isn't a line anyway.
Sure, because only people with advanced engineering degrees can be considered highly educated. Look at how IBM is focused on Linux. How could IBM have created Linux without their highly educated engineering PHDs .. oh wait.
"Demanding that the government steal other people's money to subsidise your pension and healthcare is about as selfish as it gets."
Yeah, It's only OK for the government to steal other people's money so they can kill people in other countries or keep oil companies safe.
Actually corporations owe the public a lot.
Incorporation's primary purpose is to shield those who make the profit from the consequences of their company's actions. If this legal shield is ever removed we can start talking about everybody being on their own but it's absurd under current law.
There hasn't been freedom of choice in medicine in decades.
"The fact is that Obama is a redistributionist who claims that jobs are owed and not earned."
Do you mean that people who are wealthy have a right to keep that wealth as God intended? All wealth stems from theft either now or in earlier eras. You aren't going to win this argument on the fundamentals so drop the pretense of caring about basic rights and discuss this pragmatically.
I don't get your "relevance of users" argument.
From a business perspective the most relevant users are those that have the greatest probability of contributing to a company's bottom line.
Since you haven't explained who this group of "relevant users" are I can't determine if they are or are not.
Not very well if they don't call themselves our cute name Linux. The kernel vs. OS distinction is abstract art to consumers.
When the balanced is tipped, it makes business sense to reevaluate, but we haven't reached that point yet. Even if IE disappeared, you won't be able to design a web page that can be viewed on the other browsers and look the same. Per browser testing will always be necessary for serious work.
"So, if those people suddenly couldn't use half their favorite websites properly, and all of them had a disclaimer saying "This site only uses international standards. If you have problems, please try another browser.", how long would it take for most of them to do so?"
That's very unlikely to happen simply because a competitor would come along and say "Switch to our site and you can continue using the browser you already own".
Besides, I thought not having a choice is MS's rap.
The problem is that some website developers don't understand what they were hired to do. Their job isn't to pick the winners and losers in the browser market, but to maximize the number of visitors to their employer's site.
Only in the wacky world of web culture would providing content for the most common tool be considered an annoying afterthought in favor of also-ran tools. It's not about which browser is best, it's about which browser makes your company more competitive.
widest possible dispersion?
Is it the mouse-clicking or the keyboard-typing that requires more technical capability while using Firefox or Opera rather than IE?
It was just an example. I actually worked at restaurants in my younger days and didn't enjoy it much. The point is that software development isn't a very good long-term profession if you're in it for the money. Having sacrificed stability for doing what I love, I'm not anxious to shift to support at this late date.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
There are lots of ways to make money outside the software business besides selling hardware, providing support or expertise. If I didn't want to be in the business of writing and selling software I could open a restaurant.