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."

C++ chair i think is old news

[kzeddy]

If its Herb Sutter you are talking about, he's been with microsoft for awhile now. He's posted a few articles on msdn about C++ on things like conformance and feature improvements to VS.net

Re:BORG!

[JimStoner]

"Am I the only one that sees this as buying out the competition?"

I am sure other people will share your view. However that doesnt make your view correct (or incorrect :D ).

For example, I can easily rewrite your comment...

"Let's see, some guy successfully beat us at selling a competitive O/S. Let's hire him so that never happens again." ...in this way...

"Let's see, some guy successfully beat us at selling a competitive O/S. Lets hire him to sell our O/S." ...and I think it is an equally valid possibility.

Same goes for...

"Let's hire him so that our C++ becomes the only stardard the world must follow." ...becoming...

"Let's hire him to make our C++ standards compliant."

Finally, as one more thought - none of these options are mutually exclusive anyway. My guess is that the truth consists of a little of each.

Re:Is Linux doing well in Munich?

[kikta]

Well, according to this [slashdot.org], there have been a few problems. The story that it points to is mostly Ballmer gloating, though.

IIRC, the problems are mostly what you would expect from a massive platform migration like this and things have been steadily improving. The Register [theregister.co.uk] points out that a lot of the problems stem from small vendors who don't know enough about OSS to port their software.

Re:Is Linux doing well in Munich?

[IDIIAMOTS]

Google points that they haven't deployed yet:

Munich Migration Hits Speed Bump [linuxworld.com]
Munich Linux migration hits serious snags, Users finding Linux learning curve steep, city council calls for investigation [geek.com]
Munich Open Source Plows Ahead [wired.com]

Perhaps someone from Germany could track down the infamous Computerwoche article?

Re:C++ chair i think is old news

[kikta]

Apparently since March 13, 2002 [microsoft.com].

Re:Good job offers

[mav[LAG]]

Probably none.

Microsoft did try to hire Alan Cox [essential.org] though.

Re:Is Linux doing well in Munich?

[Mikkeles]

Wired has a more detailed story [wired.com].

You can also read Client study for the state capital Munich, Executive summary of the final report [forget-me.net] which outlines the options and strategy for the upgrade.

Re:Makes Sense

[Kainaw]

They were looking for someone who could dedicate themselves full time to work and they believed that someone still going thru college wasn't going to be able to

You are absolutely correct. I edited my post repeatedly to ensure that it wouldn't be taken as a generic MS slam. I knew at the in-person interview that the job I was being considered for was full time. In the phone interviews, I thought it was an internship. I just found it strange that they would ask a college student to quit college. Of course, I shouldn't have. A friend of mine did an internship there and was asked to stay full time (and quit college).

You can always apply with them later on.

I did apply with them (twice) after I got my degree. I got no reply.

Anybody can tell what it's like working for Microsoft? Second-hand story: My friend that I mentioned is a blind programmer for Microsoft. By 'blind', I mean that he cannot see. I don't mean some kind of black-box programming style. Anyway, the employees where he is at in NC get to work any schedule they like. The limits are that they work all the hours required, they get the job done, and they are available when needed for meetings with other workers or outside clients. In the wee hours of the morning, this working heard a weird clanking noise. He ventured into the hall to figure out what it was. Tracking down the source, he found himself by the coke machine. In this building, all drink machines are free. You just press a button and get a drink - no quarters. He asked if anyone was there and another guy said that he was having a party that weekend, so he was stocking up on drinks by unloading the drinks into his duffle bags.

He told me a lot of other things - mostly making me hate my old job as a programmer for the Navy. I was rather surprised when he told me that MS doesn't pay based on your location. He has a nice place to live in at the NC facility. If he did the same job at the San Fran facility, he'd be living with 2-3 roommates in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment.

Re:Microsoft shill revealed

[pjkundert]

I just attended a 2-day C++ seminar hosted by Bjarne Stroustrup and Herb Sutter (at SD Expo, in Santa Clara). Herb gave a presentation of (some of) the .NET extensions to C++. Bjarne was present, and was very forthright about what he thought might have potential as part of the C++ Standard, and what was ... silly.

Bjarne (and the rest of the C++ Standards Committee) seem to be pretty bright boys, and Herb is no patsy. I came away from the session with a lot of confidence that the C++ Standards Committee won't turn into a pack of Microsoft zombies, and ruin the language.

The .NET GC-specific extensions (the ^ and % operators, which are the GC-safe version of the * and & operators, for example) seem pretty silly (to me), and didn't seem to impress Bjarne too much, either. He seemed to indicate that it was unlikely that they would form part of the language. There are much more interesting directions that he would like to take the language...