ahhh the old adage - "a good manager can manage anything". While that certainly may be true in some sectors and at some higher management levels (Corporate Officers etc) I think the reality for IT is a manager DOES need have some experience.
Based on my (admittedly somewhat narrow) experience you really do have to know something about the technology you are managing or your employees are going to walk all over you or attempt to subvert you, your clients will bypass you and you will be limited in your strategic planning due to wildly innacurate "saw it in a magazine so it must be right" type thinking.
Also I've seen first hand projects spin wildly out of control or fail to meet client's expectations due to last minute "golf course" promises or bizarre inexplicable "You don't need to know why just do it" decrees.
As American Programmer myself I agree with you there does seem to be a bit of a bias - may be a defensive response though, based on fear and uncertainty not necessarily arrogance.
I'm always amazed at how often people around the world often jump to the conclusion that we are all arrogant simply because we live in the US.:)
Getting back to your point - remember though "performance" may be measured in different ways like "cost" for instance - which seems to be the real issue not quality.
Part of the thinking here (I guess) is not necessarily that Indian programmers are any worse or better. It's the idea that higher level jobs are being replaced by lower level jobs. The key is that "lower level" implies less skill/training and therefore less quality. After all don't the skilled Indian programmers make more money and hold higher level positions than the "call center" variety?
I don't necessarily agree it's the "work ethic" as people here in the US typically work over 40 hrs (laborsta.ilo.org) and take far less vacation time than other countries. This may in fact be dissolving the basic "family unit" which traditionally has helped guide us through to maturity and success.
With our techshare diminishing and our workload increasing I think we are the ones who are becoming mindless robots.
Also I heard an interesting thought from an old interview with Isaac Asimov on PBS - He mentioned that the modern idea of "education" has become something that you "finish" or "complete" rather than pursue throughout your life.
Aren't there inherent issues with making assumptions or using imperfect systems that can lead to paradoxes? Isn't it inherently impossible to factor this in because there will always be things that we don't know (or even don't know that we don't know)?
There have been reports that Microsoft created incompatibilities in Windows to prevent DRDos from
running in the back-end.
In the case of Netscape it was the fact that IE could be leveraged across Microsoft's huge installed base by being bundled with Windows.
Real started out well but I agree they are the victims of their own crappy business practices. Still Microsoft has leveraged their monopoly over the desktop to promote their Media Player.
I dunno if I necessarily agree with you on this one - I've co-owned a small business with a partner (no relation) for just about 5 years. Managing employees adds a lot of overhead that can be expensive (and labor intensive) to a new small business. Partnership agreements can be framed any which way (who gets profit, who does the work, who gets control etc).
Get a good lawyer & accountant to help sort things out beforehand.
They might if they really want to incorporate GNU/Linux as a future strategy - fostering "good will"(tm) anyone?.
As long as they are not hampered by twisted and evil NDAs that is...
Companies that have actual products or some sort of valid real world presence seem to fare the best. Didn't we already see that with the dotcom bubble?
I believe especially since the growth and popularity OSS & Linux that the service and support industry might also be a strong growth sector.
The trouble is while support may be worth a periodic and ongoing payment scheme other things like "webservices" or ASPs may not. Do you really want to rent or pay a license for your next office suite? I'm even a tad suspicious of things like banner ads but I'm rather clueless in the marketing end anyway so what the f___.
Also it looks like to me that even though on the surface things are becoming more distributed (as some of my marketing drone friends have preached to me). I suspect that things are actually beginning to merge (fewer content providers, fewer ISPs, fewer media outlets etc) and get bigger. So maybe there's a trend there as well.
I guess it depends on your perspective. As pointed out before water is inherently free but has been "productized" and "value-added" (bottled and distributed) so it now has a price. Same with OSS. If I install OpenOffice on a client's machine, I am still going to charge them for the service. In addition I will probably charge them a monthly/quarterly support agreement to maintain such software (updates and troubleshooting etc). In that sense it means that OpenOffice is no longer "free" (has a price) and therefore can increase profit.
To a coder who is basically doing the work pretty much gratis (well, for knowledge, fun, fame and/or ???) which licensing model do you think would be more appealing?
Seems to me at least empirically that a license that protected my [copy]rights and guaranteed open continuation of my code (if it's good) is more desireable than one that allowed a secretive hijacking by any company(tm) for their benefit and $$$.
The influence of GPL may be more profound in this regard than you realize.
Actually according to this article in Nature we are at the end of a warming trend (which occurs every 10,000 years or so). This article points out however that there is still some debate as to wether or not the next ice age will actually occur thanks to global warming...
I can see (but not necessarily agree with) companies discouraging techies from offering free support IF they are trying to charge for such services.
On the other hand, having employees participate in such forums can take the sting out of that company having a mediocre (or over worked) support group.
"Taxes to a corp is an EXPENSE. Corporate taxes get passed on 100% to their employees (in lower wages), and to their customers (in higher prices)."
mmmm... then how else would they come up with the money to pay for their expenses?
It's a tough call on the liability thing. So you'd make the executives all responsible? What about the "just following orders" employee? Don't they too bear some responsibility?
Just the same I do agree with you and think that the companies SHOULD be liable for these kinds of activities. Not sure about their ISPs though.
I do know a few folks at DOJ and unlike their political bosses most of them have been working there for a number of years. Just because the leadership changes and the "grand vision of the moment" changes does not necessarily mean that the warfare in the trench suddenly changes or that the ideologies of non-elected/non-appointed lawyers change. The problem is with new cases being tried, going to trial etc. etc.
A few are still quite liberal, if not disturbingly so..
I think the main problem is the overall lack of understanding of the computer industry and the major ramifications/impact of cases like this.
I tried to verify the PGP signature and got this msg:
*** PGP Signature Status: good
*** Signer: Philip R. Zimmermann (Invalid)
*** Signed: 9/24/2001 10:40:26 AM
*** Verified: 9/26/2001 10:52:58 AM
*** BEGIN PGP VERIFIED MESSAGE ***
Slashdot Mirror
ahhh the old adage - "a good manager can manage anything". While that certainly may be true in some sectors and at some higher management levels (Corporate Officers etc) I think the reality for IT is a manager DOES need have some experience.
Based on my (admittedly somewhat narrow) experience you really do have to know something about the technology you are managing or your employees are going to walk all over you or attempt to subvert you, your clients will bypass you and you will be limited in your strategic planning due to wildly innacurate "saw it in a magazine so it must be right" type thinking.
Also I've seen first hand projects spin wildly out of control or fail to meet client's expectations due to last minute "golf course" promises or bizarre inexplicable "You don't need to know why just do it" decrees.
It's never too late to rule by fear though...
As American Programmer myself I agree with you there does seem to be a bit of a bias - may be a defensive response though, based on fear and uncertainty not necessarily arrogance.
:)
I'm always amazed at how often people around the world often jump to the conclusion that we are all arrogant simply because we live in the US.
Getting back to your point - remember though "performance" may be measured in different ways like "cost" for instance - which seems to be the real issue not quality.
Part of the thinking here (I guess) is not necessarily that Indian programmers are any worse or better. It's the idea that higher level jobs are being replaced by lower level jobs. The key is that "lower level" implies less skill/training and therefore less quality. After all don't the skilled Indian programmers make more money and hold higher level positions than the "call center" variety?
I don't necessarily agree it's the "work ethic" as people here in the US typically work over 40 hrs (laborsta.ilo.org) and take far less vacation time than other countries. This may in fact be dissolving the basic "family unit" which traditionally has helped guide us through to maturity and success.
With our techshare diminishing and our workload increasing I think we are the ones who are becoming mindless robots.
Also I heard an interesting thought from an old interview with Isaac Asimov on PBS - He mentioned that the modern idea of "education" has become something that you "finish" or "complete" rather than pursue throughout your life.
Aren't there inherent issues with making assumptions or using imperfect systems that can lead to paradoxes? Isn't it inherently impossible to factor this in because there will always be things that we don't know (or even don't know that we don't know)?
Disclaimer: I have not yet RTFA..
There have been reports that Microsoft created incompatibilities in Windows to prevent DRDos from running in the back-end.
In the case of Netscape it was the fact that IE could be leveraged across Microsoft's huge installed base by being bundled with Windows.
Real started out well but I agree they are the victims of their own crappy business practices. Still Microsoft has leveraged their monopoly over the desktop to promote their Media Player.
I dunno if I necessarily agree with you on this one - I've co-owned a small business with a partner (no relation) for just about 5 years. Managing employees adds a lot of overhead that can be expensive (and labor intensive) to a new small business. Partnership agreements can be framed any which way (who gets profit, who does the work, who gets control etc).
Get a good lawyer & accountant to help sort things out beforehand.
E.
They might if they really want to incorporate GNU/Linux as a future strategy - fostering "good will"(tm) anyone?.
As long as they are not hampered by twisted and evil NDAs that is...
Companies that have actual products or some sort of valid real world presence seem to fare the best. Didn't we already see that with the dotcom bubble?
I believe especially since the growth and popularity OSS & Linux that the service and support industry might also be a strong growth sector.
The trouble is while support may be worth a periodic and ongoing payment scheme other things like "webservices" or ASPs may not. Do you really want to rent or pay a license for your next office suite? I'm even a tad suspicious of things like banner ads but I'm rather clueless in the marketing end anyway so what the f___.
Also it looks like to me that even though on the surface things are becoming more distributed (as some of my marketing drone friends have preached to me). I suspect that things are actually beginning to merge (fewer content providers, fewer ISPs, fewer media outlets etc) and get bigger. So maybe there's a trend there as well.
jmho... of course...
Cheers,
E.
I guess it depends on your perspective. As pointed out before water is inherently free but has been "productized" and "value-added" (bottled and distributed) so it now has a price. Same with OSS. If I install OpenOffice on a client's machine, I am still going to charge them for the service. In addition I will probably charge them a monthly/quarterly support agreement to maintain such software (updates and troubleshooting etc). In that sense it means that OpenOffice is no longer "free" (has a price) and therefore can increase profit.
A company will be liable for using Linux OR a company is ALREADY liable due to noncompliance with Ms's licensing scheme?
How about the FUD of the BSA raiding your offices and trashing your business?
Thanks to evolution (or ) isn't the world already filled with tough, incredibly complex, self-replicating (some dangerous) nano-sized machines?
Unless of course you had a 3rd party screen capture application... still remains to be seen of those will work..
I'd also add IPCOP to that Admin's list.
Seems to me at least empirically that a license that protected my [copy]rights and guaranteed open continuation of my code (if it's good) is more desireable than one that allowed a secretive hijacking by any company(tm) for their benefit and $$$.
The influence of GPL may be more profound in this regard than you realize.
Just my humble .02 of course...
Actually according to this article in Nature we are at the end of a warming trend (which occurs every 10,000 years or so). This article points out however that there is still some debate as to wether or not the next ice age will actually occur thanks to global warming...
I can see (but not necessarily agree with) companies discouraging techies from offering free support IF they are trying to charge for such services.
On the other hand, having employees participate in such forums can take the sting out of that company having a mediocre (or over worked) support group.
What about disgruntled employees posting FUD?
Lest we become to Eurocentric - the Native Americans were really the first colonizers weren't they?
You could also try burning a linux bootable CD, something like Knoppix [www.knoppix.org] then boot up using the CD.
mmmm... then how else would they come up with the money to pay for their expenses?
It's a tough call on the liability thing. So you'd make the executives all responsible? What about the "just following orders" employee? Don't they too bear some responsibility?
Just the same I do agree with you and think that the companies SHOULD be liable for these kinds of activities. Not sure about their ISPs though.
I do know a few folks at DOJ and unlike their political bosses most of them have been working there for a number of years. Just because the leadership changes and the "grand vision of the moment" changes does not necessarily mean that the warfare in the trench suddenly changes or that the ideologies of non-elected/non-appointed lawyers change. The problem is with new cases being tried, going to trial etc. etc.
A few are still quite liberal, if not disturbingly so..
I think the main problem is the overall lack of understanding of the computer industry and the major ramifications/impact of cases like this.
Word of warning, IANAL but I watch them on TV.
I tried to verify the PGP signature and got this msg:
*** PGP Signature Status: good
*** Signer: Philip R. Zimmermann (Invalid)
*** Signed: 9/24/2001 10:40:26 AM
*** Verified: 9/26/2001 10:52:58 AM
*** BEGIN PGP VERIFIED MESSAGE ***
What's the "(Invalid)" by his name mean?