This is my first time working with a company that is a Microsoft Certified Partner. It is the first time I am not working with open source technologies but I do think that it is very important to know about both worlds so I am addressing my new job with positiveness and excitement.
I think that the conditions, the circumstances, and the environment are very different and I think a seasoned developer has to be able to find solutions in all the environments.
A common belief is that a developer who has been working with open source technologies for years will most likely work in a Microsoft environment without problems because he/she had to acquire important skills like quick problem diagnostics, a bit of “magical” intuition and the spirit of a “solutions hunter”, always trying several approaches when the problems persists.
I am very surprised about the attitude of some of my colleagues, who think that open source means just PHP and who are studying to pass the Microsoft exams on .Net. It is amazing how the people don’t know anything other than Microsoft technology. I’m actually worried about this tendency because it means closing doors to innovation and freedom, it means losing part of the science’s wealth.
There are thousands of developers around the world and maybe millions of programmers, some of them very creative guys and obviously not everyone can work at Microsoft, so should we close our eyes and not to consider their work?. Open source is the gate to an open world in which everything is possible in terms of software development.
I don’t think that free software hackers want Microsoft to disappear but on the other hand I think that the monopolistic practices of the Redmond company seems to be not fair with the developers around the world.
It is worthy to say that open source doesn’t mean best practices, it means just open, it means freedom. And it is worthy to say that some people working at Microsoft are damn good and some of my colleagues are fucking good on software development and design so please don’t confuse yourself 😉
I am proud of my team and very happy for working on one of the most interesting projects
of the company, which is a business object framework that we are building from scratch using latest MS technologies like WPF or WCF, .Net 2.0 and .Net 3.0.
Here in Dublin there used to be one Microsoft presentation per month and they use to be free and even offer free food and beers at the end. Now I understand why the MS presentations are so crowded and why the Open Source ones are not. Free beer is the key!!!.