MS Hires The Salesman Who Won Munich For SUSE

ron_ivi writes "In a move reminiscent of the 1997 MSFT/Borland Lawsuits, Microsoft has hired the SUSE sales guy who won Munich for SUSE. So if you want a job in this tough job market, just be wildly successful at your current job and Microsoft will come recruit you. (Another interesting Microsoft hire is the chair of the ISO C++ standards body as their VisualC++.NET architect.) Personally I think it's great that they recognize talented individuals and reward them well."

The moral of the story

[Morganth]

Don't be successful.

I heard Linus made a counter-offer

[Anonymous Coward]

Of $0, but he opted to go with Microsoft anyway.

How long before

[john_sheu]

they hire Linus as head Longhorn coder?

Re:How long before

[Anonymous Coward]

What?! And put all the antivirus companies out of business witha secure os?

His first assignment

[EricWright]

Get Munich back on Windows!

We've got this great lead for you...

[binbag]

His boss: OK, you're on probation until you get this first sale. There's this council in Munich...

Reminded of...

[PeteDotNu]

Bill Gates: "Buy him out, boys."

Re:it's war

[elwell642]

The name "Anakin Skywalker" comes to mind... =)

Wow

[frodo from middle ea]

I managed to convert my friend to use Mozilla last week , after persistent efforts of 2 years.

Can I expect an appointment letter ?

Re:it's war

[AKAImBatman]

Of course, it doesn't help that your girlfriend/wife is really a secret spy for Microsoft, and the agent who offered you an alternative was really an early warning system to have you bumped off. It gets even worse when they start killing your best friend Open Source programmers! What has this world come to!?

Side note: After we saw AntiTrust, my wife kept trying to convince me that she really *wasn't* a spy for Microsoft. Seems the movie hit a little too close to home. :-)

Juxtaposition of Headlines

[tomhudson]

Funny how, just after this:

Your Rights Online: Few Takers For Microsoft's Settlement Cash

we see this:

MS Hires The Salesman Who Won Munich For SUSE

Guess they found one taker for Microsoft cash after all :-)

"Recognize" talent?

[mr_luc]

Microsoft actually does have a pretty good hiring process, if a little brutal. But a lot of people are saying things like "well, at least somebody recognizes that exceptional people are worth it" -- I don't think that these examples are exactly displaying that. Microsoft has been hiring relatively exceptional people for a long time now; the only difference is that these people already have multinational acclaim in their profession.

Just thought I'd point that out -- this is a good move and everything, but hiring people that are already well-known in their field is neither A) necessarily good news for those of you stumping for MS jobs, or B) particularly cost-effective for Microsoft.

On a side note, the REAL message that this is sending to professionals around the world is this: Hurt Microsoft And Get Hired. Whether a lawyer, programmer, politician or standards' body member -- I encourage all exceptional individuals to put all of their skill towards the destruction of Microsoft. They like it! Really!

Re:Integrity

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems there isn't such thing as integrity.


You do realize we're talking about sales here, right?

Re:The moral of the story

[osewa77]

But if you are, be ready to make hard sacrifices.

BREAKING NEWS!

[Anonymous Coward]

Successfull person hired for something. Details at 11.

Yoo hoo, I'm back!

[malia8888]

My father was a salesman. Watching him has given me a love for a well closed sale. From the article: Microsoft has hired one of its worst enemies, the SuSE Linux salesman whose efforts led the city of Munich to adopt Linux and open-source software instead of Microsoft's products.

I think it would be amusing if this same salesmen, KarlAigner, can go back to the City of Munich and win them back to Microsoft products. That would be salesmanship!! :P

And the key phrase of the article is...

[BlueUnderwear]

He began his new role April 1, Microsoft said Tuesday.

Ah, the good old days

[RobertB-DC]

From the C|Net article [com.com], dateline May 7, 1997:

Yocam maintains that Microsoft is luring personnel away with huge signing bonuses, some in excess of $1 million. "They have the audacity to send limos to Borland's headquarters to take Borland employees out to lunch. I mean, this has got to stop."

Ah, the good old days. Million-dollar signing bonuses. Limos for job prospects. Corvettes for hot programmers fresh out of college. Penthouse suites with the company logo in genuine Italian marble [gamespy.com].

Why did it ever have to end?

Oh, wait, don't answer that...

It's Going To Be Funny...

[John_Booty]

...next time that guy shows up in Munich on a sales call.

"Okay, you know all that stuff I told you? Nevermind. I've got something better, now... hey! Put down the pitchforks! Aiiiiieeee!"

Re:Reminded of...

[PhrostyMcByte]

GATES: Your Internet ad was brought to my attention, but I can't figure out what, if anything, CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet does, so rather than risk competing with you, I've decided simply to buy you out.

HOMER: This is it Marge. I've poured my heart and soul into this business and now it's finally paying off. (covering his mouth) We're rich! Richer than astronauts.

MARGE: Homer quiet. Acquire the deal.

HOMER: (to Gates) I reluctantly accept your proposal!

GATES: Well everyone always does. Buy 'em out, boys!

(gates' posse trash homer's office)

HOMER: Hey, what the hell's going on!

GATES: Oh, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of checks!

The Darkside

[pavon]

Yeah, It's just like when Darth Vader tried to get Luke to join him. After Luke had destroyed the first Death Star, Vader and Palpatine realized what a great asset he could be. They offered him the chance of a lifetime, just wanted to reward him for his good work, and what did the whiny brat do? Goes and kills them both and destroys the empire's last change of survival. He ruined the livelyhoods of millions of innocent emperial employees, not to mention the thousands he murdered, just for some hippy idealism. If only he had been more grateful like these two guys, maybe the world could have been a better place.

This guy must be good.

[HungWeiLo]

He must have aced all the manhole size and obscure pointer deallocation questions!

interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone is good at his job and gets hired by someone. So that's the key!

Re:How long before

[turgid]

No. Linus is already working on a GPL'd clone. It's called GNU/Leghorn.

Missed the point, surely?

[ader]

Munich decided that Linux was cheap, extendable, powerful and usable enough to suit their purpose...so Microsoft hired the guy who told them all this?

If I write a database engine that even an idiot can administer, will Microsoft then hire the idiot?

Ade_
/

Re:Ah, the good old days

[rcs1000]

Attn: Microsoft

I am an *ace* Linux programmer. I have submitted thousands of patches to the Linux kernel (I'm afraid I don't understand how CVS works, so I'm not sure exactly how many were incorporated, but I'm guessing it's pretty damn near 100%).

I am available for hire, or indeed for lunch.

If the person I have lunch with could be female and attractive, that would be a double bonus, because I could tell my friends I had a girlfriend and get them to oogle us through the window of the restaraunt.

Please send the limo and a million dollar cheque to ###***censored by CmdrTaco***###

Thanks!

Robert

Re:The Darkside

[GigsVT]

livelyhoods of millions of innocent emperial employees

Don't forget the contractors working on the Death Star.

Re:Makes Sense

[Dot.Com.CEO]

As you grow older you'll regretably see that, all things considered, you learn as much working for two years as you do at University. Plus, you probably pick other things up, like not writing "if I had went". :-)

Re:The moral of the story

[ArsonSmith]

He's moving to an American company, that would be an imperial standard assload of cash.

Believe me now but hear me later

[krygny]

Sales guy:

"All that stuff I told you when I was working for SuSE was BULLSHIT. But now, you can believe everything I say. We ... ah going to pump ... YOU up!"

Re:it's war

[Anonymous Coward]

i remember my days at Radio Shack, as well...

Re:it's war

[pVoid]

Amen.

I would also like to say: why isn't this story headlined Saviour is now inside the MS VC.NET team! Hurray!