From: Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Date: Tue Jan 23 2001 - 16:44:07 MST
Terry Donaghe wrote:
> 1. There are a LOT of Visual Basic and ASP (Active Server Pages)
> programmers. I think there's more VB programmers than any other type in
> the world.
=There are billions of flies out there.
> 2. An awful lot of these programmers make a lot more money once they move
> into VB and/or ASP programming from whatever jobs they had in the past.
As a fly, you're more likely to find food, at least more likely than a
mammal. Ergo, since billions of flies cannot go wrong, we should eat shit.
Mmmmh, yummy. Here, have another turd.
> 3. Most (but not all - I'd say about 70-80%) of these folks are not what
> most Unix/Linux/Java guys think of as programmers. Most have no computer
How does Java fit into *nix? Inasmuch is Java good stuff, because it pays
a lot if you can code it? Strange metric.
> science background. They have no concepts of object oriented programming
> and for what they're doing, they don't need it. These guys and gals solve
What a major, major can of worms. This illustrates everything what is
wrong with computers.
"Hey, I'm a nuclear scientist. I have no clue about the physics nor engineering
of the problem domain, but I don't have to. It gets the job done, most of the
time, today."
> specific problems for businesses. They may not get paid as much as a senior
> Java developer, but $45K - $65K is not unheard of.
>
> 4. With #3 in mind, it is safe to say that 70-80% of these people would
> have a difficult time getting a "real" programming job and thus might be
> stuck in the dreary, low paying job they had previously.
Which would probably be only for all our best in the aftermath. Ha-ha,
only serious.
> 5. I know this can't be a forgone conclusion, but it seems to me that
> Microsoft has created a fantastic opportunity for millions of intelligent,
> yet non-computer science trained people to make much more money than they
> could if Microsoft didn't exist. These people contribute greatly to the
> economy, and I think the world is better off with them.
Microsoft has invented the mouse, the windows-based GUI, multitasking, multiuser,
hard realtime, Ethernet networking, the hyperlink, the gopher/ftp/http/usenet,
the file system, checkpoints, clusters, OOP and persistant objects, the hard
drive, the microprocessor and DRAM as well as the personal computer? Plus Everything Else?
I recommend going to a *good* library, and skimming every computer magazine
since 1980, or before, if you can manage it. It shouldn't take much more than
a week, maybe two. I recommend taking some heavy antidepressiva as a precaution,
'cause it won't be pretty.
> Most of the Visual Basic developers that I know are not computer science
> trained. Most easily found a job after doing a bit of work at home and for
> free for others. Many have no college degrees. I am aware, though, of many
> successful business projects that are implemented solely with Visual Basic
> and other Microsoft products.
What only would have happened if there was no Microsoft, and no Visual Basic?
Why, these poor people would be forced to build their own computers from bits
of rocks and shoestring, and write their software in Aramaic. Puh-leeze.
> Perhaps I'm an idiot, or a blind sheep following an EVIL company, but by
> working for companies which use Microsoft software I am now earning more
> than SEVEN times as much money this year than I did in 1995. My wife, who
Good for you. Bad for us.
> has no college degree, is making more than $50 an hour doing contract
> programming with Microsoft technologies. That's money that we're using to
> buy a new house, have lots of cool toys, and ensure that our son gets the
> best private education available in Phoenix, AZ.
Very good for your son. I hope he'll make good use of that education.
> I know of a LOT of more people with similar stories. Scott McNealy and
> Larry Ellison have created no where NEAR the opportunity to achieve this
What is this people and focus on single source thing? Do you think Oracle
makes much better software than Microsoft? Why need I be for Sun, or Oracle
or XY if I'm against Microsoft?
> level of success as Bill Gates has - directly or indirectly. I don't love
> Microsoft or Bill Gates, but I do respect them for the opportunities they
> have given me.
I would respect your decision if you had sampled all the alternative
realities, and found them wanting. There *are* way worse alternative realities,
but then, there are a lot better ones. Blame IBM/Intel/Microsoft from smothering
them in their cradles.
If customers didn't have the temporal depth of a parking lot puddle, IT world
wouldn't be such a sorry mess as it is now.
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