Let's see. Are Microsoft, AT&T, Olivetti (PCs division), AlphaGraphics, SpaceLabs Medical, Applied Microsystems big enough?
Granted, I couldn't get into HP, Boeing or most government-contract-intensive concerns. But WHO CARES? Can you say, "Eat red-tape and die!"?
Perhaps no-degree has gotten me even farther than a degree would have. (Have to work harder to overcome stigma, etc.; Hard work pays off; Degrees don't, after a point.)
I've been developing software for 18 years. I've designed a few motherboards (Motorola '340, ColdFire and PPC) and many other, "specialized" embedded cards -- a few are still on the market. I've been managing people (including managing managers) for the last seven years.
I have a vocational Drafting School certificate (got it 20 years ago), a pseudo-AS "degree" from a vocational Electronics School (they used ALL the Grantham books -- anyone know what I'm referring to? You're smiling right now as the pain returns to your forehead). CLEPed (or "challenged") Pascal, Assembly and C/C++ at a community college (lots of on-the-job experience helped me get a 4.0 on each exam:-).
But absolutely NO degree. Nor will I ever get one, TVM.
If college teaches you anything useful, it's how to smash through a book and get *something* out of it. If you can learn this on your own, you're done! You can learn better ways to *design* software, architect hardware, program large-scale PLDs and DSPs, budget for your department and effectively manage employees (disputes and all).
My current team of developers is the best I've ever had the privilege to work with. Some have degrees; most don't. I have yet to tell the difference, and don't really give it much thought.
Yes, some companies bar non-degreed candidates. I think they shoot themselves and their hiring managers in the foot. They are also the very-rare exception.
Not having a degree has *never* kept me from getting the job I want. I seriously doubt it ever will. (I've been told, "Our policy is that we require a degree, but...")
Perhaps resting on degree-laurels has kept me from hiring some candidates, though. If you know your stuff, it shows; If you don't, you can't hide behind a degree.
Well, they sold hardware, initially. They were associated with Linux, initially. Now neither directly applies.
When larger companies do this it creates quite a hit in the financials. Most even suffer enough losses to fall off the face of the earth. Markets like to interface with companies that are well-defined, to begin with.
I miss their hardware lineup -- really thought it was a GoodThing(TM). I'd say we're going to lose another good friend, in the long run:(
When an individual makes all the decisions the work done is the result of a force with a very narrow scope.
When a room full of Marketing, Support, Design (as in graphics), User Interface, DBA, Systems and other geeks work together, the work done is the result of a force so broad in scope, it can't be stopped.
It's like a slow, massive glacier. Hard to "see" the progress, but still unstoppable.
Re:Slashdot = birthday announcement site
on
Five Years of KDE
·
· Score: 1
Hmmmm... Jaded. And so young. Well, here's one vote in the "Yes, Virginia, there are fun jobs out there" ballot box.
The work I do is fun. But here's the trick that makes it fun:
The work is difficult, hard, often takes long hours to complete, on time. Often I have to perform triage on vendor, supplier, employee, manager tasks. Even with good planning, priorities are sorted incorrectly because you often don't know what should have been worked on first until the outcome.
I have to sort through dozens of resumes (probably a lot like yours, most of them) and figure out who's going to "fit" the requirements of the job and "fit in" with the rest of the team. I have to do long telephone interviews so as to not waste the rest of the team's time interviewing not-so-promising candidates. Then I have to further direct interviews, taking even more time away from work that isn't getting done because I need someone ASAP in the first place.
I have to listen to two sides of a bicker (weekly) and come up with a "solution" -- which is 99% of the time, just ensuring that each side gets heard by the other.
And don't forget (as Dilbert would), most managers have managers, too. Often managers behave the way they do because their boss has even pointier hair.
So what makes my job so fun? All of the above. Getting in the trenches, immersing one's self in the muck and grind of working one's ass off is fun! Try it.
What makes it twice as fun is that when you've toiled like a dog and actually *make* the customer happy, it's just a blast! A tremendous, proud moment.
I can only assume you won't get it until you've had kids of your own. All that diaper changing, keeping them from getting run over in the street, wiping snot from their nose and holding them down while they wrestle away from getting their shoes put on, creamming at the top of those little lungs because they aren't getting their way. You'll see what I mean when you open that first, hand-made Christmas present...
Trust me. You're jaded because you're young and haven't enjoyed the first reward life has to offer. The key: I said, "reward", not "gift".
Re:What can be done about terrorism?
on
More On Tragedy
·
· Score: 1
Probably goes without saying, but I've heard some news clips on the subject of Arab-looking folk in the US getting harassed by "good-ol' red-blooded Amerr'cans".
People, please! Few Muslims would do or agree with what happened in NYC/WDC. Not everyone who looks like they are Arabic are terrorists.
Remember that one of the worst terrorist acts ever commited on US soil was perpetrated by a US citizen; a good ol' Amerr'can white boy!
Really? How do you express your motives to your spouse? How do you express your love to your kids? Do you help your friend fix his car and then send him a bill?
Re:It is too bad however, the joy you seek is dead
on
Joy of Linux
·
· Score: 1
Total troll-sh*t, but here I go, anyway...
GNU/Linux was never intended to pull revenue from any market. The fact that it pulls any revenue for anyone is amazing.
You just don't get it, do you. You cannot measure the success of any FSF or Open Source "product" like you would a for-fee product or service.
GNU/Linux is successful in spite of the deterioration of its for-profit advocates. In fact measuring it's *real* success is absolutely impossible -- yet.
My organization runs dozens of 24/7 servers with GNU/Linux. In the office we run almost a dozen workstations with GNU/Linux. The source of the OS for most of these is a couple of burned CD-Rs that someone brought from home!
Thanks for trying to FUD us, but we simply know better. Shut up! already.
> The reason why I use NS/Mozilla clients under Linux is that Balsa, et al don't support HTML-formatted mail
Hmmm. Kmail does the trick for me.
Hard to believe KDE acceptance isn't broader. Nearly every complaint I hear (e.g. Linux lousy in desktop department; No browser for Linux, except crummy Netscape) is so *solved* with KDE-2.1+.
Actually, that is the best way to program in PHP. Escaping in/out, as it turns out, performs much faster on the server.
Also, in a multi-disciplined development environment, it's much easier for the graphic artist to read HTML in between the PHP than it is to read the HTML embedded in the PHP.
But what do I know, beyond my own first-hand experience?
KDE is not a linux distribution. Let the distributions do this.
Uh. Right. I want to buy shrink-wrap once, if at all, then upgrade often. Letting the distros feed my uprade appetite would starve me to death. Sort of like a certain closed source genre we have to wait around for. No thanks.
--
I'm always beneath my current threshold.
Slashdot Mirror
Let's see. Are Microsoft, AT&T, Olivetti (PCs division), AlphaGraphics, SpaceLabs Medical, Applied Microsystems big enough?
Granted, I couldn't get into HP, Boeing or most government-contract-intensive concerns. But WHO CARES? Can you say, "Eat red-tape and die!"?
Perhaps no-degree has gotten me even farther than a degree would have. (Have to work harder to overcome stigma, etc.; Hard work pays off; Degrees don't, after a point.)
Not so.
:-).
I've been developing software for 18 years. I've designed a few motherboards (Motorola '340, ColdFire and PPC) and many other, "specialized" embedded cards -- a few are still on the market. I've been managing people (including managing managers) for the last seven years.
I have a vocational Drafting School certificate (got it 20 years ago), a pseudo-AS "degree" from a vocational Electronics School (they used ALL the Grantham books -- anyone know what I'm referring to? You're smiling right now as the pain returns to your forehead). CLEPed (or "challenged") Pascal, Assembly and C/C++ at a community college (lots of on-the-job experience helped me get a 4.0 on each exam
But absolutely NO degree. Nor will I ever get one, TVM.
If college teaches you anything useful, it's how to smash through a book and get *something* out of it. If you can learn this on your own, you're done! You can learn better ways to *design* software, architect hardware, program large-scale PLDs and DSPs, budget for your department and effectively manage employees (disputes and all).
My current team of developers is the best I've ever had the privilege to work with. Some have degrees; most don't. I have yet to tell the difference, and don't really give it much thought.
Yes, some companies bar non-degreed candidates. I think they shoot themselves and their hiring managers in the foot. They are also the very-rare exception.
Not having a degree has *never* kept me from getting the job I want. I seriously doubt it ever will. (I've been told, "Our policy is that we require a degree, but...")
Perhaps resting on degree-laurels has kept me from hiring some candidates, though. If you know your stuff, it shows; If you don't, you can't hide behind a degree.
Well, they sold hardware, initially. They were associated with Linux, initially. Now neither directly applies.
:(
When larger companies do this it creates quite a hit in the financials. Most even suffer enough losses to fall off the face of the earth. Markets like to interface with companies that are well-defined, to begin with.
I miss their hardware lineup -- really thought it was a GoodThing(TM). I'd say we're going to lose another good friend, in the long run
Miopic view, I say.
If nature were to evolve paved roads, then nature would probably evolve wheeled animals, in no time.
Try racing the best "designed" RV against a horse in the same, natural environment where horses evolved.
The horse will win.
Action != Progress
When an individual makes all the decisions the work done is the result of a force with a very narrow scope.
When a room full of Marketing, Support, Design (as in graphics), User Interface, DBA, Systems and other geeks work together, the work done is the result of a force so broad in scope, it can't be stopped.
It's like a slow, massive glacier. Hard to "see" the progress, but still unstoppable.
Just confused -- refering to OpenOffice...
ACK? NACK? Parity? Start bits? Stop bits? Headers? Routing addresses? Checksums?
Because they work, stupid.
Why re-invent the wheel unless you intend to "not play nice with others"?
Hmmmm... Jaded. And so young. Well, here's one vote in the "Yes, Virginia, there are fun jobs out there" ballot box.
The work I do is fun. But here's the trick that makes it fun:
The work is difficult, hard, often takes long hours to complete, on time. Often I have to perform triage on vendor, supplier, employee, manager tasks. Even with good planning, priorities are sorted incorrectly because you often don't know what should have been worked on first until the outcome.
I have to sort through dozens of resumes (probably a lot like yours, most of them) and figure out who's going to "fit" the requirements of the job and "fit in" with the rest of the team. I have to do long telephone interviews so as to not waste the rest of the team's time interviewing not-so-promising candidates. Then I have to further direct interviews, taking even more time away from work that isn't getting done because I need someone ASAP in the first place.
I have to listen to two sides of a bicker (weekly) and come up with a "solution" -- which is 99% of the time, just ensuring that each side gets heard by the other.
And don't forget (as Dilbert would), most managers have managers, too. Often managers behave the way they do because their boss has even pointier hair.
So what makes my job so fun? All of the above. Getting in the trenches, immersing one's self in the muck and grind of working one's ass off is fun! Try it.
What makes it twice as fun is that when you've toiled like a dog and actually *make* the customer happy, it's just a blast! A tremendous, proud moment.
I can only assume you won't get it until you've had kids of your own. All that diaper changing, keeping them from getting run over in the street, wiping snot from their nose and holding them down while they wrestle away from getting their shoes put on, creamming at the top of those little lungs because they aren't getting their way. You'll see what I mean when you open that first, hand-made Christmas present...
Trust me. You're jaded because you're young and haven't enjoyed the first reward life has to offer. The key: I said, "reward", not "gift".
Probably goes without saying, but I've heard some news clips on the subject of Arab-looking folk in the US getting harassed by "good-ol' red-blooded Amerr'cans".
People, please! Few Muslims would do or agree with what happened in NYC/WDC. Not everyone who looks like they are Arabic are terrorists.
Remember that one of the worst terrorist acts ever commited on US soil was perpetrated by a US citizen; a good ol' Amerr'can white boy!
Who cares? I think where most (people, press, Microsoft) make the mistake in presumption is that BusinessModelFailure == OpenSourceFailure.
Seems like, so far, open-source software efforts are rather impervious to any single companies failure.
So what's the big deal?
. -- Micro-sig
Really? How do you express your motives to your spouse? How do you express your love to your kids? Do you help your friend fix his car and then send him a bill?
Hmmmm... How has a free, or free'er market ever stifled the ecconomy of any country?
(Don't use Russia as your *lame* example; Their markets haven't been freed, just switched from one corrupt system to another).
My fave:
"Software should be open, not closed, because without walls or fences, who needs Windows or Gates?" -- anon
Wrong:
Capitalist == Free-market
Free-market != Monopolist
Total troll-sh*t, but here I go, anyway...
GNU/Linux was never intended to pull revenue from any market. The fact that it pulls any revenue for anyone is amazing.
You just don't get it, do you. You cannot measure the success of any FSF or Open Source "product" like you would a for-fee product or service.
GNU/Linux is successful in spite of the deterioration of its for-profit advocates. In fact measuring it's *real* success is absolutely impossible -- yet.
My organization runs dozens of 24/7 servers with GNU/Linux. In the office we run almost a dozen workstations with GNU/Linux. The source of the OS for most of these is a couple of burned CD-Rs that someone brought from home!
Thanks for trying to FUD us, but we simply know better. Shut up! already.
Warning: Your ignorance is showing. I'm pretty sure Apache "owns" the biggest share of the pie...
Ah. But with Unix/Linux, it's just that much easier.
You forgot your ... tags. (Look it up on-line at Webster's).
No kidding. Have you checked out the speed of Java? How absurd!
How do companies like Sun get away with such apparent industry-acceptance of such ludicrous "products"?
Suppose there are dozens of examples of the same :-) Doesn't make it any less puzzling.
> The reason why I use NS/Mozilla clients under Linux is that Balsa, et al don't support HTML-formatted mail
Hmmm. Kmail does the trick for me.
Hard to believe KDE acceptance isn't broader. Nearly every complaint I hear (e.g. Linux lousy in desktop department; No browser for Linux, except crummy Netscape) is so *solved* with KDE-2.1+.
What's up with that?
Actually, that is the best way to program in PHP. Escaping in/out, as it turns out, performs much faster on the server.
Also, in a multi-disciplined development environment, it's much easier for the graphic artist to read HTML in between the PHP than it is to read the HTML embedded in the PHP.
But what do I know, beyond my own first-hand experience?
-----------
KDE is not a linux distribution. Let the distributions do this. Uh. Right. I want to buy shrink-wrap once, if at all, then upgrade often. Letting the distros feed my uprade appetite would starve me to death. Sort of like a certain closed source genre we have to wait around for. No thanks. -- I'm always beneath my current threshold.