Related link: http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3668,a=45363,00.asp
The recent e-Week article from Darryl Taft mentioned that MS has been hiring up industry thought leaders. I’m happy to say that Glen Daniels has joined us (Sonic), despite him being on Don Box’s “hardball recruiting list”
Among many other things, Glen will be playing a strategic role in heading up our standards and consortia involvement
Sonic’s growth over the past few years from being a pure JMS vendor to a pioneer of standards based integration in the increasingly popular Enterprise Service Bus trend will certainly provide some fertile ground for Glen to work in.
Dave
Don't worry about sellouts
Look at the poor quality of work Anders Hejlsberg came up with at Microsoft after the great work he did at Borland. Then look at the amazing Java stuff that came out of Sun. Great developers aren't motivated by money, they are motivated by excellence and a chance to improve the world. You can't do that on the Microsoft "We will copy what's successful, but never innovate" bandwagon.
Don't assume everyone is a sellout
I suppose its easy to attract Microsoft bashers by the title of my posting. I should have known. BTW, I don't share your view of MS, and I don't agree that everyone who goes and works there is a sellout. --Dave
Don't assume everyone is a sellout
I'm not the original poster, but...
The real question is what happens to them when they get there. MS has a corporate culture that actively encourages technical decisions based on public relations and marketing, as well as a "get yours" attitude (remember FYIFV?). Excellence is not rewarded, shiny pretty things are. One comparison is universities which hire well known professors for name value, but don't expect them to actually teach anything - just publish a paper every once in a while to keep the school in the journals.
Don't assume everyone is a sellout
You have no idea what you are talking about. I am no fan of Microsoft software and I spend a great deal of my energy encouraging people to use cross-platform standards-based software (which for the most part is *not* Microsoft software). But I also happened to have worked at Microsoft for many years and the "corporate culture" that you describe is nothing like the corporate culture that I experienced.
Don't worry about sellouts
BTW, Becky Dias (whom I have known for a few years and would never consider to be a "sellout"), has crafted a fairly well thought out response for you. And thanks for the jacket, Becky....I guess I'm a sellout too because she promised me a stylin' Microsoft jacket a few weeks ago at the XML & Web services conference...looks like she has owned up to her promise. :)
Colleen Evans, who was another one of the people referred to in the Darryl Taft article, is also someone I would never consider a sellout. She has integrity written all over her. I look forward to working with her again in the future. I have not lost a co-worker, but gained an ally.
BTW, I gave Glen a Sonic hat and a Sonic T-shirt to wear at the upcoming WSDL face-to-face, just so its clear to everyone who he is representing ;)
Dave