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I have to work with their system every day at work. I don't have a choice. I'd really like to go out of Microsoft's way, but they don't let me. I'd like to loo

I have to work with their system every day at work. I don't have a choice. I'd really like to go out of Microsoft's way, but they don't let me. I'd like to look for any workplace and be asked the first day: "which OS / software stack I prefer?" or give me a blank box to set up. But I usually just get a Windows box which I'd choose last (somewhere behind pen and paper). They do patent extortion (they make more money of Android than Windows Phone). They don't contribute much back to the world at large. I don't mind proprietary software, but I insist on open interfaces that let software play together. They don't do that. They don't publish essential specifications, don't contribute code to the community much and if you reserve engineer their protocols to provide compatible services, they sue you and extort royalties. And then there are things like OOXML that they forced through ISO. Companies working together with Microsoft are regularly burned. They have been repeatedly used very dirty tactics to corner the market and got fined for it. I don't particularly fancy their software (I'm much more comfortable with Linux systems). Automation of Windows software is horrible and they suffer a bad form of NIH. This rubs me the wrong way. Make them an optional thing in my life that I can avoid and I stop having hard feelings for them.

igravious 13y ago
You don't _have_ to do anything. My friend, be more confident. Learn the stuff you want to learn. Polish your CV. Look around for work that _you_ want to do. Bide your time and look around. There are alternatives. At one point in my career in the mid-90s I decided that I had enough of working with MS technologies because of the way they abused their position of dominance and killed companies I liked like Borland and Netscape and because I learned about F/OSS and started getting into Linux. Then came the Halloween documents and that was it really. It did hurt my pocket, but you know what? Sometimes you have to act on principle. These days it is much easier to ignore Microsoft tech though it's annoying they bought Skype and poisoned Nokia. I do think that MS Research is a bunch of awesome though, those people rock. Anyway. I'll say it again. Don't continue being unhappy in what you do. You don't _have_ to do anything. Take control of your own destiny. If you need help/advice just reply to this post. Take care.
- skriticos2 13y ago
  Oh, I did not say I was unhappy. I just said I'm not content with the status quo. And what does an engineer (by heart) do when things are off? Fix them. For me this means strengthening alternatives. I just recently released a side project in the Ubuntu Software Center growing the ecosystem with it. I can't make a living with this though (yet), so I'm doing a regular day job too and there is not much choice there sadly around here (Germany). I also have a family, so I have a strong incentive to keep a stable baseline income. I'm working in the direction of doing something nice with my own company where I can write the rules. It just takes some time and effort.

igravious 13y ago

You don't _have_ to do anything. My friend, be more confident. Learn the stuff you want to learn. Polish your CV. Look around for work that _you_ want to do. Bide your time and look around. There are alternatives. At one point in my career in the mid-90s I decided that I had enough of working with MS technologies because of the way they abused their position of dominance and killed companies I liked like Borland and Netscape and because I learned about F/OSS and started getting into Linux. Then came the Halloween documents and that was it really. It did hurt my pocket, but you know what? Sometimes you have to act on principle. These days it is much easier to ignore Microsoft tech though it's annoying they bought Skype and poisoned Nokia. I do think that MS Research is a bunch of awesome though, those people rock. Anyway. I'll say it again. Don't continue being unhappy in what you do. You don't _have_ to do anything. Take control of your own destiny. If you need help/advice just reply to this post. Take care.

skriticos2 13y ago
Oh, I did not say I was unhappy. I just said I'm not content with the status quo. And what does an engineer (by heart) do when things are off? Fix them. For me this means strengthening alternatives. I just recently released a side project in the Ubuntu Software Center growing the ecosystem with it. I can't make a living with this though (yet), so I'm doing a regular day job too and there is not much choice there sadly around here (Germany). I also have a family, so I have a strong incentive to keep a stable baseline income. I'm working in the direction of doing something nice with my own company where I can write the rules. It just takes some time and effort.