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greed (was)

Brandon Van Every vanevery at 3DProgrammer.com
Mon Feb 3 21:34:51 EST 2003 
Mongryong wrote:
> On Fri, 2003-01-31 at 18:39, Brandon Van Every wrote:
>>
>> No, you wouldn't.  People who don't give a crap about degrees get
>> things done.  That's why Microsoft is the business juggernaut that
>> it is.  People at Microsoft know that technology isn't the dominant
>> component, business is. The university guy is Linus Torvaldis.
>> Linux has the market growth pattern of an engineer-centric product.
>
> That explains why Microsoft has been putting out crap.

Yes it does.  Microsoft puts out crap because they know they can get away
with it, and how to get away with it.

> I just read this article:
>
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/02/01/microsoft.security.reut/index.htm
l
>
> This article on the 'Slammer' worm suggests we 'switch' to MACS
> because of Microsoft's security flaws in its software.

Gimme a break.  Macs have always been flakey.  I gave up on the company
about 6 years ago, when they proved to my satisfaction they couldn't
engineer their way out of a paper bag.  That PowerPC 7100 I recommended to
my folks was such a piece of crap.  It was a bit embarrassing.  I'd always
had them buy Macs before, after that experience they switched to PCs.

Apple isn't any kind of answer to the problems of business.  All they want
is to be Microsoft, they just fail at it.  There are only so many talented
engineers to go around, and Apple lost hold of most of them.

> The problem with the business mentally is that it is corrupt and greedy.

The problem with freeware / open source / volunteer mentality is it only
concerns itself with the needs of the hobbyist engineers.  Ease of use is
terribly low on the list of priorities.  Marshalling companies to ensure
driver availability and compatibility just doesn't happen.  That's a main
part of the job Microsoft does, BTW.  Development happens at the pace the
engineers are willing to do it.  When you put money on the table, it focuses
people.

> Innovation is the pursuit of greatness through science and ethics.

Innovation can also mean improving products very slightly in order to make
profit.  If nobody's actually getting anything done in the real world, that
sounds like a plenty valid / ethical pursuit to me.

> Once the marketing hype is over, people will want substance.

The free market evidence is flatly to the contrary.  Only engineers think
"Build it, and they will come."

--
Cheers,                         www.3DProgrammer.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.
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