Ex-Microsofter Rick Belluzzo Prefers Linux

keird writes "I'm sure you all remember Belluzzo being pushed out of Microsoft earlier this year. ComputerWorld has a short, but interesting interview with him where he talks about why his new employer, Quantum uses Linux in their appliances." From reading the interview, Belluzzo seems to be pretty amicable to whatever will get the job done, and in this case, it's Linux.

Who?

[Ed Avis]

I'm sure you all remember Belluzzo being pushed out of Microsoft earlier this year.

Er, no? Was there a Slashdot story on it? Who is this guy? I only know about Bill G and the monkey man.

Where are the switch ads?

[Max Romantschuk]

Methinks the Free Software Foundation should start switch ads ;)

Re:Rocket Rick

[Ed Avis]

The 'going forward'-ometer registers a worryingly high reading on this article. Don't employ this man.

This is probably Rick's way of saying....

[Jacco de Leeuw]

FYIV.

("Fuck you, I'm vested!" [cinepad.com])

I'd be pretty amicable too. . .

[bplipschitz]

"Here, we'll pay you a pornographic sum of money, and all you have to do is smile at the cameras, act CEO-like, and say you love Leenooks".

Tough Job.

Malda!

[HaloZero]

Aren't you supposed to be on your honeymoon? GET OFF THE COMPUTER, MAN! :-P

So Much for Openness..

[gik]

"We have determined that your Web browser and/or computer's operating system may not support the navigation system of Quantum.com. We recommend that you either upgrade your Web browser to the most recent version or use our site map to browse our site."

That's Moz1.2 folks.

sigh...

Does this mean we will see commercials like this?

[one9nine]

"I'm Rick Belluzzo and I'm the former president and chief operating officer of Microsoft Corp."

www.linux.com/switch

Like, switch...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was writing code on the PC at Microsoft and it was like beep beep beep. And then, like, half my code was gone, and I was like, huh?

It devoured my code. It was really good code. Then I had to write it again and I had to do it fast, and it wasnt so good.

So, like, Bill fired me for that crappy code. It was kind of a ... bummer.

My name is Rick Beluzzo, and I'm a Linux user.

It was a good paper...

[roman_mir]

I was working for Microsoft and I made a ton of money. It was good money but then I realized I could make even more money by working for Quantum. So now I work here. I think they use Linux here. I had a rough discussion with Steve Balmer before leaving. ... bummer....

I am Rick Belluzzo and I am the former chief operating officer of Microsoft.

Re:MS Approach to Linux

[ethereal]

Have you seen Ballmer in action yet? You're lucky if he doesn't sweat on you too :)

Another Misleading Headline

[Ringwraith]

He never actually says he likes Linux better. He says: " consider myself an advocate of whatever allows us to achieve our goals most effectively. And today, for us, that certainly is Linux ..."

Of course, the /. headline says he "prefers Linux." I'm sure it will say that same thing when this story is posted over the weekend....

Re:Make a Change :-)

[ghjm]

How do you talk when someone is crushing your balls in a deterministically ordered sequence?

-Graham

Re:Make a Change :-)

[pyrrho]

then it's ALL caps.

Point taken.

[UncleRage]

It's possible I haven't really considered the larger picture here. After reading your post -- and taking looking around (from a different view point), I suppose I can see what you're talking about.

Of course, I also view it from a slightly different point anyhow (running YDL on PPC) -- so I don't often pay heavy attention to the angst of the x86 world. Maybe I should open my eyes once in awhile, eh?

*Opens eyes for the first time*

OMG! Bill Gates is a dick!

----

Re:Who?

[tc]

I think that's pretty much the reason he got the boot from MS. According to some of my MS-employee buddies the guy was viewed as a non-entity by most staff. Sample conversation between two MS employees I know:

"Rick Belluzzo's been fired"
"Who?"
"The company President"
"I thought that was Balmer"
"No, apparently it was this Belluzzo guy"
"No shit? Who knew?"