2 ms·

I didn't mention Linux or LAMP. I said that the MS programming world is parochial. It's closed-in on itself and remarkably ignorant of the rest of the software

by gruseom 16y ago

I didn't mention Linux or LAMP. I said that the MS programming world is parochial. It's closed-in on itself and remarkably ignorant of the rest of the software universe. I worked in the MS space for years and observed it closely. There simply isn't any doubt about this, or at least wasn't at the time. Possibly things are changing as MS' power wanes; possibly the people who frequent HN are outliers; possibly some people just don't like hearing this; possibly all of the above. But I can walk you down the street from where I'm sitting and take you to my friends' consulting shop where life is all-MS-all-the-time and introduce you to a dozen or so smart programmers who can tell you all about Linq-to-objects and ASP MVC, not one of whom knows anything they haven't gotten from MS, except what they learned at school.

gaius 16y ago
On the flipside of that is people using MySQL who have no idea what MSSQL can do (for example). The Linux world is no better or no worse in this respect.
- Daishiman 16y ago
  No, it's much, much better. For one, there's no such thing as the Linux world. "The Linux world" is everything else in this context, which includes Java, Ruby, Python, Web, C, and dozens of different technologies. With the exception of the Java community, none of those communities come even close to being as insular. None. Every Ruby and Python dev I know has at least checked out Java and C# before going back to their primary language. Every Java developer has dozens (too many, perhaps) of choices for libraries, app servers, and even other language that run on the JVM. Even PHP developers have some notion of other tools used for web development (generally Flash and Flex). It's true that many of these communities might not have much exposure to deeper subjects of more dubious relevance, like CS theory and classic FP languages like Lisp, but they at least know and understand that there are other choices out there. Meanwhile, most MS-only devs don't even know about Apache, SVN, or even the notion of using a text editor as your primary development environment.

by gruseom 16y ago

gaius 16y ago

On the flipside of that is people using MySQL who have no idea what MSSQL can do (for example). The Linux world is no better or no worse in this respect.

Daishiman 16y ago
No, it's much, much better. For one, there's no such thing as the Linux world. "The Linux world" is everything else in this context, which includes Java, Ruby, Python, Web, C, and dozens of different technologies. With the exception of the Java community, none of those communities come even close to being as insular. None. Every Ruby and Python dev I know has at least checked out Java and C# before going back to their primary language. Every Java developer has dozens (too many, perhaps) of choices for libraries, app servers, and even other language that run on the JVM. Even PHP developers have some notion of other tools used for web development (generally Flash and Flex). It's true that many of these communities might not have much exposure to deeper subjects of more dubious relevance, like CS theory and classic FP languages like Lisp, but they at least know and understand that there are other choices out there. Meanwhile, most MS-only devs don't even know about Apache, SVN, or even the notion of using a text editor as your primary development environment.