[ale] .NET considered harmful

[Geoffrey Myers]

Lightner, Jeff wrote:
> Trying to explain the nuances of IT positions isn't fun.   For most
> folks I end up having to say "I do computer work".   Heck, half the
> time when they hear me say "Systems Administrator" they think I'm
> telling them I'm manager type.  Their eyes tend to glaze over if I
> try to explain exactly what I do.
> 
> One of my favorite Dilbert strips involves him explaining to the PHB
> that the OS is UNIX not Eunuchs.   The PHB says to tell the company
> nurse "never mind" when she shows up with scissors.

There is a story that used to get passed around at AT&T that Richie said 
that the name UNIX originated from the fact that he defined UNIX as 
Multics with it's balls cut off.

> 
> -----Original Message----- From: ale-bounces at ale.org
> [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Don Lachlan Sent: Tuesday,
> March 29, 2011 2:33 PM To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts Subject: Re:
> [ale] .NET considered harmful
> 
> On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 9:42 AM, John Pilman <jcpilman at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Microsoft makes him feel bigger.  He spends a lot of the blog
>> slamming Microsoft and .NET.  What he says about them may be true,
>> but it does not help to identify good programmers. If he is looking
>> for programmers who like to program and try different things, any
>> short list of languages would be suspect. I wish you, Jerald or
>> Don, had written that blog instead.  You both did a better job
>> describing good programmers than the original author.
> 
> I thank you for the compliment but I think I was repeating the same 
> things the blog author did. The "programmer" vs. "computer scientist"
>  (vs. "software developer/engineer") is a nuance I've been trying to 
> explain to people for 10 years. Perhaps if he had put it into that 
> comparison, he would've gotten less hate... But I doubt it.
> 
> Whenever a new "easy" language/platform/tool comes out, lots of 
> less-skilled people jump on it because it requires less skill -
> that's the point. If you're evaluating someone, don't you wonder why
> they jumped to something which was targeted to less-skilled people?
> It may have been the right/best tool - trust me, I've watched people
> piss and moan about "XYZ sucks" when it *is* the right tool - but
> very often the "easy" solution isn't the right solution, it's just
> the right one for less skilled people.
> 
> .NET is going to be the right/best platform for a number of things - 
> but if he's hiring for things where it *isn't* going to be, shouldn't
>  he screen out people who used .NET when the best solution was 
> something else?
> 
> -L
> 
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-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson