As I mentioned when I filed this story yesterday - but was REJECTED.
Probably for the best, because it would have looked odd given my handle (gov_coder).
Well, it was a several years ago - but I kinda figured out that my boss's boss was the person I could reach and impress. By keeping that guy happy I guaranteed my own success - or at least staved off my incompetent and jealous boss until I could get a better opportunity.
My advice is to make sure you realize that person you need to keep "happy" is often not your direct supervisor or manager/boss. Usually it is a level or two above that. You don't have to stoop to brown nosing to learn what matters to that person. Generally if you just ask them - WTF is most important - they will tell you.
Another way to look at it is this:
If you do the dumb things your dumb boss wants, you'll be looked at as dumb by those in the organization who know better.
I seem to recall Adam authored a great
book about his time as an employee at Microsoft.
Hardly someone who should be giving us the gospel truth about the lotus breakage story.
We simply tell our clients (who are all windows users anyway) to use IE. Not giving further choice means less headache for us when it comes to supporting our product.
And when IE7 comes out and breaks your apps - you will think: What was that stuff about standards compliance again?
OK - I was wrong; here's the reply I got from Paul Murphy a few moments ago asking why his website is called "winface.com":
____________________________________
Subject: Re: Defenestration Guide
Date: 4/29/2005 4:26:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: rudy AT edpstaff.com
To: johnbrown1024 AT netscape.net
Because you win face by switching to Unix - and I don't bash Linux, not ever - I
just say it's the weakest of the three major Unix variants -and it is.
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:04:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: apache AT mailhost.edpstaff.com
To: rudy AT mailhost.edpstaff.com
Subject: Defenestration Guide
Mime-Version: 1.0
I'm curious because you seem to spend a lot of energy bashing linux.
Thanks,
John
____________________________________
I still think he has spent way too much time bashing linux to be someone who could call himself a unix guy. Doesn't bash linux, ever? What, then ? C-shell's instead?
I wonder why google doesn't have an rss service like
yahoo does?
Before I got yahoo's feeds I searched high and low for google's - but as far as I can tell the only way to get it is by various screen scraper type progies.. A shame, really.
intended - Star Wars would be public domain this year (1977 + 14, plus another 14 assuming renewal).
Instead Star Wars is slated to be public domain in the year 2071 (I read last night that copyright is 94 years).
Sometimes we focus so much on the bad of patents that we can tend to forget the loss to our culture that now stems from insane copyright law.
The numbers come from my reading of Larry Lessig's book (which you get for free, btw, when you become an associate member of the FSF).
Imagine how many wonderful movies could be made if things were as they were originally inteded!
as the article states - is the effect of the new powercell chip from IBM.
I, too, am eager to get my hands on a workstation that will be up to 10 times faster than anything from intel. Apparently linux is the only major OS with support for the chip at this time.
No support is mentioned by microsoft for the chip - and I wonder, had MS ever successfully supported a non-x86 architecture for any real length of time?
Could it be that linux / *nix and windows are changing places?
About 5 years ago I worked with *nix servers at work and windows at home and I thought geez, why can't these command line thingies be more user-friendly.
Some time passes and I learn the wonders of vi. Then we get this new linux box with kde 2.0 to play with and I'm like holy SHIT! This is kool.
And then I changed jobs and I now live the reverse life... Linux (mepis) at home and windows at work.
Only difference in my perspective is I don't long for windows at home - but I am glad I still work with some *nix servers at work.
I freely admit to occasionally spending a few hours frickin' around with gv4l or some obscure app to do PVR stuff - but stacked up against the hours I'd spend on windows trying to keep up with the continuous stream of patches / bugs/virii / malware - things are much improved for me.
If however, you compare a very well administered winXP system against out-of-the-box linux or Mac OS X; I would say winXP will likely be more productive for most cases.
But I imagine most people use Mac OS X or linux mainly so they don't have to don the SA hat every time they want to surf the web or check email.
I also think windows got where they are because
they were cheaper (remember when Netscape cost $40)
they were mostly good enough
Guess what? That's pretty much how I'd rate linux on the desktop....
In a wall-mart world that has got to scare the sheeAttt out of microsoft.
I can't tell you why _you_ should switch, but I can tell you why _I_ switched.
1) tired or malware (viri, worms, adware, etc...) clogging up system resources and my time
2) MS's ominous focus on preventing user actions - rather then enabling users to do things (such as remove a web browser with a poor security track record - for example, burn MP3s, etc...)
3) wanted to support open standards; The markets and competition depend on them - so I might as well vote for fairness with my dollars and my feet.
4) tired of upgrade treadmill and the costs of MS software; seems like I just figured out how to pay for MS Office Pro (in 97) when a new version comes out - and the only way to fix a bunch of annoying bugs is to buy the newer stuff. You can of course get much of this benefit just by using OOo - but there's a lot more than OOo in the linux world.
5) pretty much tired of supporting a convicted monopolist with my hard earned dough.
6) wanted to learn more about unix
7) got a glimpse of KDE (at the time I believe it was at 1.1) and thought - wow, this is better than windows. Still think so.
Actually I had what I thought was good virus protection at the time. Memory is a little foggy but I am certain it was Macafee.
Another detail which I didn't mention was that I actually did have a backup - on a zip disk that somehow died on me. It made a clicking sound and just wouldn't ready the media when I put it in the zip drive.
Should I have taken more precautions to protect my files; sure - and I have already conceded that.
But I still maintain that the windows platform seems no better now, with regard to malware, than its was in 1997. I'd even say a strong argument can be made that it is actually worse.
Still, I'm pretty confident I'm not the only person who has lost important data due to MS security holes. And I see no evidence they've gotten any better at security since 97.
Slashdot Mirror
I put the windows xp emulator here.
Now show me the money!
Here. I already gave 'em my 2 cents.
As I mentioned when I filed this story yesterday - but was REJECTED. Probably for the best, because it would have looked odd given my handle (gov_coder).
from my handle that I've been there, too?
Well, it was a several years ago - but I kinda figured out that my boss's boss was the person I could reach and impress. By keeping that guy happy I guaranteed my own success - or at least staved off my incompetent and jealous boss until I could get a better opportunity.
My advice is to make sure you realize that person you need to keep "happy" is often not your direct supervisor or manager/boss. Usually it is a level or two above that. You don't have to stoop to brown nosing to learn what matters to that person. Generally if you just ask them - WTF is most important - they will tell you.
Another way to look at it is this:
If you do the dumb things your dumb boss wants, you'll be looked at as dumb by those in the organization who know better.
Just following orders, sir won't cut it.
Windows at work. Linux at home.... This is true for myself and several other /.ers I know. So the numbers are naturally skewed...
I seem to recall Adam authored a great book about his time as an employee at Microsoft. Hardly someone who should be giving us the gospel truth about the lotus breakage story.
As part of your job, have you set any of these up? If so, what are you doing with them?
Have you seen a lot of co-workers go to Google lately? Has google tried to recruit you?
Have you been to the compound? If so, what was it like?
We simply tell our clients (who are all windows users anyway) to use IE. Not giving further choice means less headache for us when it comes to supporting our product.
And when IE7 comes out and breaks your apps - you will think: What was that stuff about standards compliance again?
Or it gets the hose again. At least this is what I'm hearing whenever MS wants to talk about linux.
So while this big server park was purchased with MS-Windows pre-installed, all servers were running Linux before the system was put into use.
And the client never did get a refund for their OS purchase, now did they?
They may not have purchased the OS they needed, but perhaps they bought the OS they deserved?
OK - I was wrong; here's the reply I got from Paul Murphy a few moments ago asking why his website is called "winface.com":
____________________________________
Subject: Re: Defenestration Guide
Date: 4/29/2005 4:26:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: rudy AT edpstaff.com
To: johnbrown1024 AT netscape.net
Because you win face by switching to Unix - and I don't bash Linux, not ever - I just say it's the weakest of the three major Unix variants -and it is.
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:04:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: apache AT mailhost.edpstaff.com
To: rudy AT mailhost.edpstaff.com
Subject: Defenestration Guide
Mime-Version: 1.0
User: johnbrown1024@netscape.net
Comment: Question, actually.
Why is your website WINface.com?
I'm curious because you seem to spend a lot of energy bashing linux.
Thanks,
John
____________________________________
I still think he has spent way too much time bashing linux to be someone who could call himself a unix guy. Doesn't bash linux, ever? What, then ? C-shell's instead?
Paul Murhpy's website is winface.com?
I sent him an email asking for the explanation - but I don't really expect a response.
Just seems rather out of step with being a so-called Unix guy.
Really, it does.
Is that easy enough?
I wonder why google doesn't have an rss service like yahoo does?
Before I got yahoo's feeds I searched high and low for google's - but as far as I can tell the only way to get it is by various screen scraper type progies.. A shame, really.
Don't be going to Smuckers online contact form trying to sell them on new ideas to patent.
Just because two guys sold them patents to PB&Js doesn't mean they are stupid.
And especially don't try and sell them a patent on milk in a cylindrical container. I'm already negotiating that one with them now.
intended - Star Wars would be public domain this year (1977 + 14, plus another 14 assuming renewal).
Instead Star Wars is slated to be public domain in the year 2071 (I read last night that copyright is 94 years).
Sometimes we focus so much on the bad of patents that we can tend to forget the loss to our culture that now stems from insane copyright law.
The numbers come from my reading of Larry Lessig's book (which you get for free, btw, when you become an associate member of the FSF). Imagine how many wonderful movies could be made if things were as they were originally inteded!
he wants to test linux on PPC.
But I have it on good authority that he was convinced by this.
I just hope he doesn't move to Iceland.
as the article states - is the effect of the new powercell chip from IBM. I, too, am eager to get my hands on a workstation that will be up to 10 times faster than anything from intel. Apparently linux is the only major OS with support for the chip at this time. No support is mentioned by microsoft for the chip - and I wonder, had MS ever successfully supported a non-x86 architecture for any real length of time?
Could it be that linux / *nix and windows are changing places?
About 5 years ago I worked with *nix servers at work and windows at home and I thought geez, why can't these command line thingies be more user-friendly.
Some time passes and I learn the wonders of vi. Then we get this new linux box with kde 2.0 to play with and I'm like holy SHIT! This is kool.
And then I changed jobs and I now live the reverse life... Linux (mepis) at home and windows at work. Only difference in my perspective is I don't long for windows at home - but I am glad I still work with some *nix servers at work.
I freely admit to occasionally spending a few hours frickin' around with gv4l or some obscure app to do PVR stuff - but stacked up against the hours I'd spend on windows trying to keep up with the continuous stream of patches / bugs
If however, you compare a very well administered winXP system against out-of-the-box linux or Mac OS X; I would say winXP will likely be more productive for most cases.
But I imagine most people use Mac OS X or linux mainly so they don't have to don the SA hat every time they want to surf the web or check email.
I also think windows got where they are because
- they were cheaper (remember when Netscape cost $40)
- they were mostly good enough
Guess what? That's pretty much how I'd rate linux on the desktop....In a wall-mart world that has got to scare the sheeAttt out of microsoft.
Good and bad companies alike will be forced to dance this silly legal jig.
The only real voice we have in this battle is our wallets. I'm sending my spare dimes where they can best help fight this stuff.
Don't hate the players - fix the game.
I can't tell you why _you_ should switch, but I can tell you why _I_ switched. 1) tired or malware (viri, worms, adware, etc...) clogging up system resources and my time 2) MS's ominous focus on preventing user actions - rather then enabling users to do things (such as remove a web browser with a poor security track record - for example, burn MP3s, etc...) 3) wanted to support open standards; The markets and competition depend on them - so I might as well vote for fairness with my dollars and my feet. 4) tired of upgrade treadmill and the costs of MS software; seems like I just figured out how to pay for MS Office Pro (in 97) when a new version comes out - and the only way to fix a bunch of annoying bugs is to buy the newer stuff. You can of course get much of this benefit just by using OOo - but there's a lot more than OOo in the linux world. 5) pretty much tired of supporting a convicted monopolist with my hard earned dough. 6) wanted to learn more about unix 7) got a glimpse of KDE (at the time I believe it was at 1.1) and thought - wow, this is better than windows. Still think so.
Actually I had what I thought was good virus protection at the time. Memory is a little foggy but I am certain it was Macafee. Another detail which I didn't mention was that I actually did have a backup - on a zip disk that somehow died on me. It made a clicking sound and just wouldn't ready the media when I put it in the zip drive. Should I have taken more precautions to protect my files; sure - and I have already conceded that. But I still maintain that the windows platform seems no better now, with regard to malware, than its was in 1997. I'd even say a strong argument can be made that it is actually worse.
A better questions would be.
"Why didn't you add virus protection ten years ago."
"Why did you feel the need to acuire a virus company rather than starting from scratch?"
"Given MS products long history of gross failure why don't you build in a more robust data recovery system?"
These are all good questions. But how are these not ball-kicking questions?
And why shouldn't he get a kick out of the questions?
Point taken.
Still, I'm pretty confident I'm not the only person who has lost important data due to MS security holes. And I see no evidence they've gotten any better at security since 97.
Have you?