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"Microsoft tries to recruit me" - Very funny response
esr.ibiblio.org — Microsoft sent an email trying to recruit this guy. Shame they didn't actually research who he was. Part of his response: "I ’d thank you for your offer of employment at Microsoft, except that it indicates that either you or your research team (or both) couldn’t get a clue if it were pounded into you with baseball bats." Read it to see full reply!
ashleybakerreal- 2902 diggs
- digg it
- MrPresident13, on 10/12/2007, -65/+11If only he was from Google.
- ashleybakerreal, on 10/12/2007, -68/+4Haha
- guytoronto, on 10/12/2007, -71/+23I call *****.
I somehow doubt Microsoft would initiate a recruitment with an e-mail. Any recruiter worth his salt always picks up the telephone first. - arunforce, on 10/12/2007, -16/+63Just almost 2 years old.
- dolemite5005, on 10/12/2007, -41/+314This Eric S. Raymond guy thinks pretty highly of himself. Should I feel really dumb that I have no idea who he is?
Also, the MS recruiter is not even a MS employee, if you look at his email you'll see he's a "vee dash", which means he's probably just some goon working for some consulting agency and couldn't care less about who he hires for MS as long as he fills whatever positions are given to him to fill. - MAdaXe42, on 10/12/2007, -106/+33Yes, you should feel dumb. Eric Scott Raymond is one of the biggest movers and shakers in the open source movement. He's Ballmer to GNU/Linux, except he has brains.
- tallymebanana, on 10/12/2007, -23/+147Forgive me stating the obvious but: "I would love an opportunity to speak with you in detail about your interest in a career at Microsoft" is not an offer of employment.
- dolemite5005, on 10/12/2007, -44/+113Ahhhh well that's why I've never heard of him, I lack in the computer geekiness department. Probably a reason I'm actually able to get laid from time to time.
- andyrobo60, on 10/12/2007, -43/+11The best part:
"On the day *I* go to work for Microsoft, faint oinking sounds will be heard from far overhead, the moon will not merely turn blue but develop polkadots, and hell will freeze over so solid the brimstone will go superconductive." - boardo, on 10/12/2007, -28/+18@dolemite5005
Try to find a few documentaries on Hackers and the open source movement. Eric is one of the pioneers and has spoken at many conventions over the years. - omababy, on 10/12/2007, -30/+23@dolemite5005 - Eric wrote "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" where have you been...
- GaffleSnipe, on 10/12/2007, -26/+6Funny if it's true.
- afx1, on 10/12/2007, -28/+4Better title: "Microsoft tries to recruit me, hilarity ensues!"
- benitojuarez, on 10/12/2007, -32/+226Better title : " I'm a pompous unprofessional ***** with no class that doesn't feel the need to treat other people with basic tenants such as courtesy and respect."
- afx1, on 10/12/2007, -22/+91@benitojuarez - "Better title : I'm a pompous ***** that doesn't feel the need to treat other people with basic tenants such as courtesy and respect."
You're right that's the best one. - Matt2k, on 10/12/2007, -19/+84FOSS spokesman fulfills stereotypical BOFH holier-than-thou attitude. Demonstrates social ineptitude. Further damages the reputation of fellow hard working programmers who desperately wish they could distance themselves from such a figurehead. Story at 11
- robdiggity, on 10/12/2007, -17/+6@dolemite5005
That and the fact you are willing to pay for it! - oscarsonthepond, on 10/12/2007, -16/+44How could anybody read this and have any respect for this guy? He's a complete idiot/jerk/egomaniac.
- bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -14/+29Who is Eric S Raymond?
An outspoken racist, a genocidal war monger who believes it is the wests duty to "civilise" the world through armed conflict... oh and he's also an open source advocate who because of his inability to comprehend "open source" fights against microsoft while simultaneously advocating moving open source in the same capitalist direction...
plus he's rude in a vain attempt to win kudos and be seen as some kind of revolutionary... (but that's self evident) - lobsang, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27@tallymebanana said:
"Forgive me stating the obvious but: "I would love an opportunity to speak with you in detail about your interest in a career at Microsoft" is not an offer of employment."
The same way "Come over to my house, my parents are out of town" is not an invitation to sex. It all depends on your competence from that point on, really. - alx242, on 10/12/2007, -13/+9Can't believe the comments that got dugg up in this section. This guy is in fact a major contributor to the whole open source movement and made a joke about the recruitment team not doing research before sending this invitation to him and you slander him because either you don't know him or because you feel he has a bad attitude. Whata hell is wrong with you?
You could at least recognize the whole weird situation and how stupid it is by a company to even try to recruit ESR to the one company he doesn't have feelings for.
The only people that carry a big flag with their ego written all over it are the people writing him down as nothing only because you can't do any research as to who he is or what he has done. - Lonny, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11@ alx242
What exactly did this recruitment company do wrong? They saw he had the skills necessary for a job and went after him. Last time I checked, that is their job. It doesn't matter what he stands for. They just want his skill and experience. - OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5[quote]I'm a pompous unprofessional ***** with no class that doesn't feel the need to treat other people with basic tenants[/quote]
You're a pompous, unprofessional ***** who doesn't know how to spell.
Eric S. Raymond may be a jerk, but he's right about fighting monopolies.
Maybe sometimes it takes such a "jerk" to snap people out of their habitual passivity. Yes, you'd rather not think about the "bad" things. But those bad things don't go away by themselves. Monopolies don't suddenly turn benevolent, they only continue to get worse in their abuse as their power grows.
Come on, when are you people--Americans mostly--going to figure it out? The rest of the world already knows the dangers of corporate monopolism, yet Americans still don't get it. - benitojuarez, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2=/
@obkenobi
What exactly did I spell incorrectly?
Here, go masturbate furiously to this.
http://www.stanford.edu/~rtracey/IHUM/images/swastika.JPG
Hopefully you can understand the subtext implied by the above image.
I respected you as a submitter, but as a person you are a ***** douche. - anonymoustroll, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2> Should I feel really dumb that I have no idea who he is?
probably... - alx242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Lonny:
Just to clarify...I do think he went to far with what he said, but people should understand that much of his experience is being anti-MS (in weird way). That is what the company did wrong. :)
Here is some info to all the people that digg me down and need to catch up on some ESR in writing, the book "The Cathedral and the Bazaar". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar
It seems many of those digging me down missed out on this book...:P
- vancanucksfan, on 10/12/2007, -44/+258what a tool. the guy from ms was being nice to him. oh look at me, i created open source, i have all the bitches
- Cenobite, on 10/12/2007, -22/+126esr is, and always has been, irrelevant. He's as representative of the open-source community as Richard Hoagland is of astronomy.
Sorry for the obscure analogy, I can't think of anything else. - bariswheel, on 10/12/2007, -72/+23Who are you to call him irrelevant? I see you've written many books about open source and contributed your entire life on the subject. Show some respect.
"Raymond coined the aphorism "Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow." He credits Linus Torvalds with the inspiration for this quotation, which he dubs "Linus's law". The quotation appears in The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary, Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly & Associates.[2] In 1997, Raymond became a prominent voice in the open source movement and was a co-founder of the Open Source Initiative. He also took on the self-appointed role of ambassador of open source to the press, business and public. The release of the Mozilla (then Netscape) source code in 1998 was an early accomplishment. He has agreed to lecture at Microsoft,[4] has accepted stock options from VA Software to provide credibility to the company and act as a hired "corporate conscience"[5] and has spoken in more than fifteen countries on six continents."
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you don't have any, shut your disgusting trap. - stou, on 10/12/2007, -18/+105yea... the guy seems a bit full of himself....
- capiCrimm, on 10/12/2007, -11/+53He does have some good points and did some good things, but I think the problem is mainly him comparing himself to Linus or RMS
- JKraut, on 10/12/2007, -14/+113Eric S. Raymond sounds like a self obsessive prick. He probably thinks hes started a software revolution just by the way he talks, when until now I've never even heard his name. So its no surprise the recruiter hadn't heard of him.
The way he writes his reply letter makes you think you should have heard of him, but really hes just like any open source programmer out there, except he has a few deals under his belt.
So in short, yes he does think:
'i created open source, i have all the bitches' - Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -8/+56@ceno
It's the perfect analogy because I have no idea who ever the hell either of them are. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14ESR plays an important role but his direct contributions in terms of code aren't as big as he and his supporters would have you believe. He has written code but he is no Torvalds or Stallman on this front. Really he is the political opposite of Stallman. As RMS implores us to be more pure ESR implores us to be more open to the corporate end and be practical. Stallman wants perfect freedom whatever the cost, Raymond would compromise for an increased user base and the ability to dictate from the top. One considers social aspects, the other the development model.
Really they are the two extremes in the free and open source worlds and everybody else essentially comes somewhere in the middle of them. - Cenobite, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19@ bariswheel
I'm baffled by your indignation. In the interest of polite discourse (haha), I'll provide a few reasons for my position.
Raymond publicly claims to be a "core Linux developer", though his one patch wasn't included in the kernel. His default position seems to be that it was rejected for "political" reasons. I'm sure the thought that it just wasn't good enough is incomprehensible to him. He also privately threatened Bruce Perens to the point where Perens feared for his own personal safety. That's one way to swing an argument in your favour, Eric! Then, probably most notably, many feel that after he took over maintenance of the jargon file, that he changed its focused to reflect his own views.
As far as Raymond's actual contributions are concerned, I'm sure they extend beyond "coining aphorisms" and appointing himself(!) ambassador of open-source, though unless he has cured cancer, found Jimmy Hoffa and developed cold-fusion, it won't do much to shake my opinion of him.
These criticisms are derived from what I presume to be the same source from which the bulk of your comment is derived (the Wikipedia article on Eric S. Raymond), though it would seem that in your fury you didn't read the article all the way through. At least that is my charitable assumption. You're quite right that I haven't written any books on the subject, nor am I anything beyond a mediocre programmer (though, possibly, of a similar skill level as esr himself), but why does that mean that I have no right to criticise the man who, you are reminded, has chosen a life in the public eye?
By applying your line of reasoning, only people who hold public office should be allowed to criticise the president.
For the record, my criticisms of him aren't based on his political views (encouraging an "imperialist campaign to 'civilize' the Muslim world); his views on African-Americans (that they are "responsible for a disproportionate percentage of crimes because they have lower IQs"); or his views on gays (comparing them to paedophiles), as these views are not directly related to the topic of discussion. Though, I admit, it would be naive to say that it doesn't taint one's opinion of him even further. - nogami, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22I don't know who he is either... I don't particularly care to tell you the truth.
If people like this are representing OSS, I think we're better-off with MS.
N. - burke, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12A lot of people seem to think nobody's ever heard of this guy, which is totally false. In fact, the only two more prominent people in the Open Source community are Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman. I'm not saying his position is deserved, but he *is* very well-known.
- dougmc, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2@Cenobite
`For the record, my criticisms of him aren't based on his political views ...'
Nice job there, of enumerating many of his unpopular political views just so you can tell us that your criticisms of him aren't related to them and that they aren't relevant to the discussion at hand!
To be fair, hiring ESR would probably be a very good move by Microsoft -- he could probably provide a lot of benefit to the company. Of course, his anti-Microsoft views are well known, and so Microsoft would have a very hard time actually getting him, and his tirade (do you know who I am?!?!?!@?) only re-enforces that. - gb506, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'm surprised that after showing the recruitment letter to his wife she didn't harang him into actually getting a real job for once...
- Cenobite, on 10/12/2007, -22/+126esr is, and always has been, irrelevant. He's as representative of the open-source community as Richard Hoagland is of astronomy.
- eliomar, on 10/12/2007, -65/+14i for on believe you have to stand up for your ideals. This man did just just, but also for his community. I would have done the same.
- maninblac1, on 10/12/2007, -13/+80There's nothing wrong with that, but he could have been nicer about it though, there is something called professional courtesy.
- Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -69/+18Professional courtesy is not sending your company's worst enemy a recruitment letter.
His response was perfectly justified, if not deserved. - antifreeze11, on 10/12/2007, -8/+103he didn't have to be a dick about it,
- jmg703, on 10/12/2007, -8/+56He did nothing of the sort. All he did was play up his own ego for "pwng" points. It's sad and pathetic and no one at MS even blinked when they read the letter. if anything they laughed and lit $200 cigars.
- returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6"There's nothing wrong with that, but he could have been nicer about it though, there is something called professional courtesy."
Microsoft has been trying to destroy OSS for some time now by recruiting the big proponents of it. This is just another business tactic of theirs. - user98887, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13It fine to have ideals, but some humility/modesty too.
@Akaji - Professional courtesy is not sending your company's worst enemy a recruitment letter.
Yes, worst enemy. They offered him a job because they though he was an engineer - not an arsehole.
- maninblac1, on 10/12/2007, -12/+62Other than the obvious philisophical differences, why not!? Skilled programmers are needed in all areas, open source, closed source.
Heaven forbid someone wants to pay him good money to do something he is very good at. He should have a little respect that MS is willing to not only consider a seasoned verteran in the art to work for them and that they're not just drudging up thousands of college CS's who wouldn't know usability testing if it bit them in the a$$. But they are willing to ask the "enemy" of all people for input.
While many OSS individuals will simply attribute this to either MS trying to thin the quality of the OSS community or pull answers from them by making them their own engineers, i mean give me a break. It'd never happen, the OSS active programming community outnumbers all of MS's staff by 100:1 (probably orders of magnitude more), one guy isn't going to make the difference.
So pardon my saying so, but our recuitee should get his head out of his butt and at least say "thanks, but no thanks", there are more OSS failures than there are successes. Sourceforge has 150K projects, of those, how many are massively successful, Azureus, Gaim, Ares, etc, not that many. The other softwares are Mozilla, and Linux (pardon if i didn't put in your favorite OSS software).
I don't know, i guess i just don't like jerks.- Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -42/+13Why not? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that he's been campaigning against the cutthroat, monopolistic stylings of Microsoft for years?
He should be instulted that MS sent him, an anti-MS activist, a recruitment letter. I have my doubts about the seriousness of that recruitment letter; it may very well have been a passive-aggressive insult against him, considering his background.
The very nature of OSS is that it *can not be a failure*. OSS is not made to gain money, or even to get a lot of downloads; OSS is made for the sake of improving the community, and even the projects that you consider to be 'failures' do so.
To be sardonic is not to be a jerk. To try to recruit one of your company's most outspoken haters is to be a jerk. - derekbalsam, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12@Akaji
>The very nature of OSS is that it *can not be a failure*"
Then neither can it be a success. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4It can be a success or failure for others but can never be a failure in the needs of it's creators. OSS users write code for themselves providing the functionality they need. How can that ever be a failure.
As for corporate success. The number of specialist projects out there that use Linux means it is nowhere near a failure. Linux is becoming 'the thing' for embedded systems, it is nearly monopolising new server installs, it does monopolise the super computer and mainframe markets. The only area it is not making huge stride in is the desktop market and even there the market share is increasing.
Within a decade people will have more Linux based computers in their house than MS. They won't realise they are there but for those employed in the Linux market they don't care if people know about it. There will still be employment for them even as people scream that Linux is a failure.
- Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -42/+13Why not? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that he's been campaigning against the cutthroat, monopolistic stylings of Microsoft for years?
- geoken, on 10/12/2007, -10/+130Newsflash, you aren't as famous as you think you are. His response basically amounted to him getting upset because someone else didn't know who he was. He then tries to validate himself by insinuating that the MS guy doesn't know about him because the MS guy is dumb, and not because this guy is a little less famous then he thinks he is.
- Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -41/+5They were sending him a recruitment letter based on some recommendation from their research team. What he was saying is that the research team is full of morons - and I'd agree. Just go to http://www.catb.org/~esr/ and it shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to realize that that guy would never want a job at MS.
- DeathBorn, on 10/12/2007, -7/+90By responding to Microsoft's message like this, he is just showing that he acts like a fool in professional situations. While the recrutment letter was merely a pre-written letter, he actually went through the trouble of sending insults to MS. Good way to show the "professionalism" of the open-source movement...
- stou, on 10/12/2007, -6/+33I've been using OSS for years and years... and I've never heard of this guy... maybe I should thank him or something (?)... but I still haven't heard of him.
- Jerim, on 10/12/2007, -2/+28I have never heard of him. This guy tries to make it sound as though he is personally responsible for OSS. I did check out his resume. He claims to know pretty much every piece of hardware and programming language created since the mid 80's, and I do mean every. It was the section where he claims to be the most sought after speaker at technical conferences, that raises my eyebrow the most. That and the fact that he has a history of starting non-profit organizations and making himself the top executive. The guy comes off as a very arrogant jerk. Worst of all, I don't see anything to back up that attitude. If you are going to be an arrogant jerk, then at least do something to warrant such an attitude.
- fufubag, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Akaji, are you.... whoever this guy is?
- LeeVal, on 10/12/2007, -33/+5He is in this documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2xfrApGOr4
- fosenteskotia, on 10/12/2007, -3/+59I refuse to make this guy feel any more important than he already feels.
- m3mn0n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Wrong link, it's actually this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QOoU1MDoVA
- consonance, on 10/12/2007, -9/+80What an *****. His parents must have never taught him tact.
- cozinator, on 10/12/2007, -5/+74"*****" is putting it lightly. Check out his wikipedia entry:
---------
Raymond is a prolific writer of political and technical opinion pieces through his website and blog. Since the spring of 2002, Raymond has used his web log to promote his views on politics, race and the Iraq war. Controversial opinions he has proffered include that African-Americans are responsible for a disproportionate percentage of crimes because they have lower IQs,
“ In the U.S., blacks are 12% of the population but commit 50% of violent crimes; can anyone honestly think this is unconnected to the fact that they average 15 points of IQ lower than the general population? That stupid people are more violent is a fact independent of skin color. [8]
...
He is also the founder of Geeks With Guns[13] , an American pro-gun internet group. - concertina, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Ah, ESR. The only member of the open source community so despised that he inspired a web comic in his honor.
http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/archive/eric-buys-an-ipod
I *heart* ELER. - slothlovechunk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Wow, what an ass.
Funny how when you control for economic background and education, this IQ gap is eliminated.
What an ignorant racist rube. - GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5He is not saying that Blacks are intrinsically stupid he is saying that for whatever reason (the social factors you point out) the Black American population averages at a lower IQ than the rest of the population and also commits more murder. What he is saying is that murder rate is linked to IQ, stupid people tend to kill more. It just happens to be that this is an obvious example due to social conditions.
He may well be racist as well but there is nothing in that argument to suggest that. - Jerim, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@cozinator
Wait......what? This guy has a wikipedia article? After reading through it, I don't see where he has accomplished anything noteworthy. The closest thing was a alternative kernel configuration system for the Linux kernel that got rejected. Which, given his inflated ego he blamed on politics. Oh, and he maintains the Jargon File, which many people accuse him of manipulating to including anti-ware terms and terms that only he uses. Forgotten to mention that he has a bad temper, has been accused of hijacking the OSS movement, and some books that no one has ever bought. Like I said, not anything that a million other anonymous developers aren't doing at this exact moment, without a wikipedia page. If he gets a wikipedia page, then my goldfish gets a wikipedia page.
- cozinator, on 10/12/2007, -5/+74"*****" is putting it lightly. Check out his wikipedia entry:
- Markus123, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29...This wasn't funny in 2005 when it was written and posted everywhere, and it's still not funny now. The guy they're trying to hire is an idiot.
- ers35, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28 "This entry was posted on Thursday, September 8th, 2005 at 4:24 pm"
- guyinthechair, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I'm ashamed this entry was posted on my birthday.
- zenlunatic, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21um, this happened like 10 years ago? OP you been livin' under a rock?
- allanak, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5My thoughts exactly. Didn't I read this from slashdot almost 2 years ago?
Now, to everyone calling him an arrogant dick, isn't it almost warranted? For MS to approach such an open source (dare I say) fanboy sounds like a joke in it of itself. At least we all got a good laugh out of it.
- allanak, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5My thoughts exactly. Didn't I read this from slashdot almost 2 years ago?
- ajck, on 10/12/2007, -40/+3Microsoft as a whole are stupid ignorant *****, pure and simple. Sorry if that language offends anyone but I use it as a descriptive term, and that strength of language is needed. Not only are they (as a corporation) REALLY stupid, they are also REALLY ignorant, and to top it all off they are total *****.
Not only that, but they are corrupt and morally bankrupt (as has been proven in courts of law), and produce some of the world's worst engineered software.
And all those things dear friends, are what Microsoft will truly be remembered for in history. Bit of a shame for all the nice, intelligent, well meaning people employed there.- gboodhoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22I didn't find this particularly amusing. Just saw a guy on record acting like a jerk to what is a pretty standard "cold-call" from a recruiter. So the recruiter didn't know whoh e was? So what? You'd be surprised how few people are particularly interested in the issues and history behind open source. Recruiters aren't especially technical, and while I'd agree they're pretty useless, why act like an ass when it would take less effort to:
A. not respond
B. simply state "not interested"
@ajck:
You're such a naughtly little boy! If you're claiming that never even once has a single decent thing emerged from M$ then that's just incredible! Just to use an easy example, I'd say the 360 is a pretty solid product.
If you're claiming that they do business any differently than anyone else, you're truly deluded.
idiot. - jmg703, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Let me guess... Microsoft cheated on you with another guy? How badly did they hurt you, you poor thing?
- Ambicar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7@ajck
Please explain to me how people can be both nice / intelligent (Microsoft Employees) and ignorant ***** (Microsoft Employees). Also, if their products are so aweful then why exactly have 90% of the computer users in the world purchased them? Guess they must all be ignorant ***** too.
- gboodhoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22I didn't find this particularly amusing. Just saw a guy on record acting like a jerk to what is a pretty standard "cold-call" from a recruiter. So the recruiter didn't know whoh e was? So what? You'd be surprised how few people are particularly interested in the issues and history behind open source. Recruiters aren't especially technical, and while I'd agree they're pretty useless, why act like an ass when it would take less effort to:
- memoBug, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21I disagree with the blog author, "Jeering at offers like this is actually the most constructive thing we can do,"
and I wonder why a person who behave reasonably in conversation:
"I called Mike Walters, who told me my name had been passed to him by his research team. I indicated to him that I thought somebody was probably having a little joke at his expense, and promised him an email reply."
...would feel like web rage is an appropriate response when given an opportunity to respond in email. Actually Eric S. Raymond, (if he's the author of that letter), is his OWN worst enemy. - fosenteskotia, on 10/12/2007, -5/+42BTW, whatever your name is, mr. open source god, if you are reading this, recognize that digg is full of linux fans. So don't assume it's just MS fanboys who think you are a dick.
- armbar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15I know who he is, but I wish I didn't.
- user98887, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@kavinath
Yep, been programming on linux for years now. Don't know who he is or care
- overburn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24Thats not an actual Microsoft employee, the v- in the email address means that this is someone from Volt Information Services which has a contract with Microsoft for technical support and other services that Microsoft contracts out to them.
So this is not exactly Microsoft trying to recruit him but rather Volt trying to recruit him.- whatisthisaol, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Yes not actually a Microsoft employee, but to be 100% correct a v dash is any contractor, not just Volt.
- zenlunatic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10in esr's reply he uses the term "proprietary-software"
shouldn't he be saying "closed source"?
rms would have probably said "no thanks" and that would be that. esr is dying!- GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3OSS supporters have no issue using the term proprietary software as analogous to closed source. It is only the FSF and their supporters who seek to differentiate between the two.
In theory there is a difference while in practice there is not.
- GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3OSS supporters have no issue using the term proprietary software as analogous to closed source. It is only the FSF and their supporters who seek to differentiate between the two.
- jadoo, on 10/12/2007, -25/+3 Funniest part "On that hopefully not too far distant day that I piss on Microsoft’s
grave, I sincerely hope none of it will splash on you"- jmg703, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20Thats funny if you've never heard anything truly witty in your entire life.
- cyberpass, on 10/12/2007, -19/+13Hey Eric s. Rainman...Who the ***** do u think you are???? Seriously man...go shove that open source ***** that you created up ur ass...I bet ur wife would give anything for you to get a decent paying job at microsoft instead of working for free at home thinking the whole world thinks ur cool(yea right)...I know bill gates...I have no idea who you are...so STFU.
- D3koy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Cocky much? Not only that, but you're a dick...
- toolwerx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4who gives a ***** how much of a dick he was in his response. all of a sudden everyone's offended by such a mundane response. funny................
"How rude of a response"
LMFAO!!!!
- toolwerx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4who gives a ***** how much of a dick he was in his response. all of a sudden everyone's offended by such a mundane response. funny................
- broomett, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31And so another blind lemming MS hater proves that they have the mentality of a 10 year old.
The janitors who started with Microsoft can buy and sell this guys ENTIRE family. I don't think that Microsoft is shedding any tears over his grade school response.- gboodhoo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19they'll manage to get by without his mad programming skillz++ I'm sure.
- jbus, on 10/12/2007, -27/+5The funniest part about this is the reaction of the Microsoft shills here on digg.
- bioskope, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14and the ***** seems to have arrived to diss on MS
- acceptab1euname, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Been using Linux since 1998, and I only use Windows for playing video games - I'm clearly not an MS shill. I'm well aware of who Eric Raymond is. That having been said, he's /still/ a loud-mouthed jerkoff who thinks he's more relevant than he actually is.
Trollaxor, god(s) bless 'im, does a great job of describing him:
http://trollaxor.blogspot.com/search/label/ESR
- PabloMac, on 10/12/2007, -26/+4"Microsoft’s profit margins require a monopoly lock on the market."
That will piss off some Microsuck fanboys around here.
"Microsoft is not reformable."
Yes, but it is reformatable, as in Format C:- jmg703, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25wow you need more life experiences for your jokes
- mandarin, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Sorry whats funny about this? This guy has a head as big as the moon
- zymosis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17I really want to get into the open source community, so I can throw my weight around like he does. Oh...wait....I've never even heard of the guy.
I wonder why they didn't post his email back. Did it say "Have a nice day prick". Or maybe it just got the reaction they were hoping for. - Kazbaeden, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20"If you had bothered to do five seconds of background checking..." you would have found out that I am an arrogant ***** who is largely irrelevant and unknown to pretty much anyone.
My favorite part is how he assumed that someone wanting to talk to him is an "offer of employment." If I sat down to talk with this guy and he fed me that sass, he'd be the *last* person I'd consider hiring.- jmg703, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15I'd tell that little boy to go find his mommy to take him home and out of my office.
- secretivecoward, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12So some vee-dash tries to be nice and this guy insults him and makes the frontpage? Digg sucks...
"Vendor roles: this is a little trickier and I think this is where more of the marketing work takes place. Vendors are hired by the individual business units. So my recommendation is to network. If you know someone in the business unit that you want to work in, ask them what vendors they use for particular types of work (and trust me, the recruiters really don't have insight into this stuff)."
http://blogs.msdn.com/heatherleigh/archive/2004/07/14/183685.aspx - Aciid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13This is almost old as that sandwich under my couch
- bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27Who the ***** is Eric S. Raymond?
- ThisIsBob, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10How about enumerating the number of microsoft products were involved (if any) for the email exchange and the subsequent postings thereof both here and elsewhere. If the answer is 1 or more, then you are an idiot.
- joe90210, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19esr is a gun-obsessed, war-mongering racist. He's also made no significant software contribution to the open-source community.
- IllBeBack, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13Wow... Eric S. Raymond sounds like a real *****. Who the ***** does he think he is?
He probably works at Microsoft now because no one else would put up with his suck-ass attitude.- acceptab1euname, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Actually, I'm willing to bet that's why he works in Open Source software: what employer in their right mind would put up with that *****?
- celeb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19This guy has a talent on how to successfully burn bridges.
- robdazomba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18This guy's response makes him sound scared and uncertain.
Here's a crazy ***** idea. Instead of playing the eternal role of the aloof rebel, why not take MS up on an offer of employment, shooting for a position high enough to influence some of their decisions?
I'm not a fan of MS anymore than the next guy, but to talk about MS as if it's evil is childish. MS is just a big, mindless corporation at this point (most big corporations get like that) and they're just stuck on auto-pilot because it's too profitable for them to think in any other way. That doesn't make them evil... maybe a little dumb, yes, but not evil. Perhaps some of these open source advocates need to infiltrate MS and make their cases to the right people. Maybe if it were explained reasonably and intelligently (i.e., no references to baseball bats and pissing on graves) it might start to take hold.
That's why this respnose looks scared. Maybe OSS advocates don't really believe in what they preach as deeply as they do, otherwise they might believe that such an approach would work--after all, it makes more sense than the proprietary approach, right? Right? Maybe? Maybe not?
It all comes down to this: you can't shift a company's focus by lobbing verbal bombs at them, especially when they think it's going to harm them financially. That's all they exist for, to make money. Show them how OSS can make them money and they'll go to it like ducks to water and you win the argument.- samuel514, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2100 % true, great comment ! digging you up
- totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10My favorite Eric S Raymond moment:
http://daringfireball.net/2004/04/spray_on_usability- uberdesigner, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Eric is clearly such a high level thinker that he has problems with the most simple tasks. Any recruiter would be blessed to even speak to him for one minute. Yes people, he is in that high of a demand.
- totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8uberdesigner,
it sounds like MS needs to hire Eric's Aunt Tilly instead!
- pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12i've never heard of him before. but now i do, and i think he's a pompous, self-important, prick.
- GelfTheElf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Like others, I didn't know who Eric was... even though I've used Linux before it tried to run doom on everything.. so I googled him. Check out his Wikipedia Page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_S._Raymond
0. Bill Gates "Worse Nightmare" is probably getting a papercut while pulling a Scrooge McDuck.. (swimming in his money)
Check out this picture:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/Esr.jpg/389px-Esr.jpg
Now think "I'm Your Worst Nightmare"
Only one allowed to say "I'm your worst nightmare" is/was Rambo...
1. Eric has MORE Criticism on his Wikipedia Entry than information...
This part is great (explains the letter):
Furthermore, his temper has also caused some tension between himself and other Open Source advocates, most famously Bruce Perens. Perens made public a private email threat he received from Raymond on the Debian mailing lists, citing safety concerns.[19] Perens later dropped the issue.[20]
2. I have to agree with the poster on the link who said...
"Now Microsoft has one more arrow..."
Indeed.. now Microsoft can turn to others and say, "We tried to offer a job to a member of the open source community.. look how THEY respond... do you really want your mission critical software built by people like this?"
Eric is definately not blending- bart9h, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Best description of Eric I've ever seen:
http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/archive/show-them-the-code
- bart9h, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Best description of Eric I've ever seen:
- jarinudom, on 03/31/2008, -3/+10That guy seems like a pompous *****, all I got to say about that!
- jackdaniels06, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3If only he got in the office and was talking face to face with Ballmer and Gates with hidden camera and all, take off his jacket and he's wearing a Google shirt and then yell "death to Microsoft or bobahhbooeeehhh..."
- TheToecutter, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Sorry, but the guy sounds like an egotistical *****...not unlike the enemy he claims to have in Microsoft.
Meh, his 15 minutes will be up soon. - helf, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4dude, this is so old its not even funny. wtf is with digg and stuff thats SUPER OLD hitting the frontpage lately? even if people 'havent seen it' its OOOOOLD.
- aragami, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7didn't know who he was before reading this, thought he sounded like a egotistical prick while reading this
and after a quick look around to dig up information i now think he's certainly got delusions of grandeur (as far as i can tell he helped in a minor role coding some app's and wrote howto's and some books but thinks he created the whole open source movement single handily and well his political views are a bit right wing (i believe that's the correct term) and i think he's an ***** :-) - kurotenshi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8If you think he sounds like a pompous ass in that letter, you should read more of the drivel that comes out of this psychopaths mouth - there is a reason that he is shunned by most of the OSS movement - just read his blog to find out how trully self-important, bigoted and obtuse this retard really is...
OSS could of been farther ahead without this jackass.- Phlag, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Yeah. I'm surprised that he got contacted by Microsoft not because he's so pro-OSS, but rather because he's such a delusional prick.
- DonCarcharo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I once had a representative from my local chamber of commerce walk into my web design studio. He had called ahead asking if we could sit down and talk about some web development. I agreed and the guy showed up the next day. He walks into my studio, past the sidewalk sign and past the four foot wide acrylic signage announcing my web design services. He walks past the iMac featuring a slideshow of my web design portfolio and then sits down at my conference table where there's yet another portfolio of websites.
What does this tool do? He pitches me a website. It turns out he wasn't from the chamber at all, but rather worked for a competitor of mine who provided web design services for all new chamber members. Despite all the obvious signs he went right into a sell. So I sat through it, sat through the whole thing right up until we got to the part where he asked me what I do for a living. Then he nodded, said "oh." and promptly left.
See recruiters and sales people have something in common, they work on commission and they're not always that bright. Making fun of them is fruitless, they just want to get paid. - givemereplay, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7What, you've never heard of me? But I'm your worst nightmare! No, really! You've still got a stranglehold on the market, thus proving that I have been an insignificant bad dream at the very worst. Nevertheless, I rebuke your offer, great satan!
- biggbrother, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This is very old. And he is very full of himself.
- acceptab1euname, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11For when ESR eventually reads through this:
Dear Eric,
Way to be a dick yet again. You're an embarassment. Most people don't even know who you care, let alone care what you think. Try learning the value of keeping your colossal ego under control, and maybe you'll actually /get/ offers of employment. Better yet, find yourself a nice hole to (quietly) die in.
Sincerely,
An Open Source Software Fan Who Wishes You'd Shut The ***** Up. - badbox, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Yep, the general idiocy of digg presents yet another old ***** internet meme to the front page once again.
IF you haven't caught on by now: you people are ***** stupid. - bar10dr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Who?
No wonder he's doing opensource, no one would hire that guy. - mudfly, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6Eric S. Raymond is the author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar
If it wasn't for this text, Netscape would not have open sourced their browser and none of us would be enjoying Firefox today. So you can all call him egotistical, or pompous, but I appreciate what he has done to help progress OSS.- philz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Absolutly correct, one may or may not have heard of him. In my opinion he did a great job years ago, but is now only trolling for attention.
- r0b1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Smart guy, but what a complete ass. I bet he's a hit with the ladies though:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/graphics/esr001.jpg - vx69, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3The fact of open source doesn't just lie in software, it's a whole social idea that would see the end of money all together and make us work for each other.
Ever see Star Trek? they don't have money in the society on earth, and they are in frigging space!- user98887, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Oh, you need to get out more.
Hey, the federation didn't have money, but the people on DS9 sure did get a lot of gold pressed latinum
- user98887, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Oh, you need to get out more.
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