Gentoo Linux founder joins Microsoft

You know, MS pretty much hired the whole Digital VMS group (about 200 engineers) including the lead VMS architect Dave Cutler to develop NT. I am sure they did the same with many other areas of IT. They were always successful of killing the original company. I wonder if they will be able to do it again with Linux. Nah, I doubt it, Linux is not a company to kill. Besides, I have more confidence in the main FOSS developers. We can't help it, we are bound to have some wishy washy ones. I don't know much about this guy, but I hope he has his own other than MS agenda! Most unfortunate.

Rumor has it that MSFT also put a lot of law firms on retainer, reducing the ability of the US Dept of Justice to find anti-trust litigators and other attorneys in the MSFT anti-trust case.

Mark my words, the *huge* pile of cash that MSFT has accumulated causes problems, and will continue to cause problems for years into the future. That's more cash than most nations have on hand, and it's controlled by only a few people, relatively speaking.

Don't be judging Daniel until you walk a mile in his shoes. Did any of you offer him a job, or help out with Gentoo? As I said in the other thread, creating and supporting Gentoo just about bankrupted him. So unless you have something better to offer him, don't waste time casting aspersions on his character.

Something else to think about- there are quite a few Linux-friendly employees inside Microsoft. (I still have my spies.) The more the better.

<Sound of Applause> Way to go tuxchick!!! Everything in life has its place. Important as FOSS is, so is eating and feeding one's family. Even working for Microsoft is acceptable so long as you don't need to break the law or your own sense of ethics. </Sound of Applause>

Tuxchick/Dinotrac:

WOOoo, hold your horses. No body is criticizing or beating on the guy. Please, read my post carefully before you jump to conclusions.

My title of my post is "Stealing Talent". That is big compliment to the guy, not criticisim. My post ends with "Most unfortunate". He is not going, or not be allowed to work on FOSS any more. That is also a big compliment because of the big loss to FOSS not having such a talented person.

My main point was about how MS keep looking for ways to kill FOSS. I wasn't beating on the guy. We all have to make a living, we all have to do whatever it takes to live and provide for our families. I work with MS stuff every day. Do you think I like it? not at all. Every day, I can't wait to get off work and go home to work with Linux. Come on guys, people like you should know better!

Last thought, just to get out of my chest. Tuxchick: I think you are still allright, Dinotrac, I think you are a big fat cat.

Abe --

You got the fat part right, though I am working on it.

Wish I could be a fat cat so I could do more for my kids.

Important as FOSS is, so is eating and feeding one's family. How right you are. Few prostitutes are truly voluntary, and far be it from me to judge them. How easy it is to forget that not all people have the same options in life as most of us have...

Film at 11.

Anyone else want to guess at what effect this will have on Daniel?

Daniel went deeply into debt creating and supporting Gentoo. He just about worked himself to death trying to support his family and Gentoo. I imagine that having a steady job with a good paycheck will work wonders for him.

tuxchick -

Applause in this thread, too.

Making a good and legal living (especially if you have children who depend on you) is no cause for derision.

Well, I find myself wondering how his employment, and others like him in the future, will affect Microsoft.

Remember Vinod Vallopillil? He was the MS employee who researched OSS for MS and wrote the original "Halloween Document". For those who may not remember, it was basically a glowing review of our developer community. Shortly thereafter, he quit MS and moved to... a Linux startup.

Remember what Jeremy Allison said about SGI when he was working there? He said that OSS converted SGI from the inside out.

MS is certainly a tough nut to crack. But the best way to crack it may be from the inside. MS's technical employees are a smart bunch, and exactly the kind of people prone to becoming excited about OSS and Linux after having been exposed to it.

Gates and Balmer wield great power. But what can they do when their technical employees have all gotten the OSS meme?

I see this as a positive development.

The last statement is probably the most correct I have seen as far as getting Linux put into use goes. As far as having a paying job - hey I have a family, I have to work for the man too. Anyhow, this has been the case at the last two places I worked at. I walk in and it is a split HPUX/MS shop with a smattering of (and I do mean smattering like one or two) Solaris and Novell. Flash forward 2 years at one and one year at another and I have them using and deploying OSS for web, database, and security solutions. It has always been grass roots and not hype. That, by the way, is exactly how UNIX and the internet caught on. So it should not be a surprise to anyone. Marketing does work in some cases (windows anyone?) but in the long haul all strong fundamental changes come from the ground up and often within.

Today, an estimated 100 million people around the globe use Linux - up from two million in 1999. Even Microsoft didn't grow that fast.

But, here's the point - most of the people using and programming Linux today were former Microsoft people. Throw in the massive amount of funding coming from Venture Capitalists from Microsoft, Dell and others and what is the big deal?

Hello? One former Linux guru and tens of thousands of former Microsoft gurus.

So what.

A few years ago I got more than one phone call from Redmond looking for somebody to "spear head" their "Linux and open source" involvement. I mean... I got repeated phone calls... anyone else here get them?? I'm sorry, but there's a lot of things more important than money. I feel sorry for him. He has made the biggest mistake probably of his life.