Verily I say unto thee, that mike spake thusly:
> in addition to the outsourcing of jobs, let's not forget the considerable
> number of people (outside of microsoft) who left the computer field
> because they found it too much of an insult to their intelligence to be
> spending all their time supporting that which is always and by far the
> weakest link in any computer infrastructure -- microsoft. i've watched
> over two decades the inverse relationship between prestigious jobs in the
> computer field vs. the growth of microsoft such that computer science now
> ranks near the bottom of the academic desires of college students. and
> who can blame them, working in computers has become synonymous with
> supporting microsoft and one can find a more rewarding and respectable
> career as janitor at the local sewage & wastewater treatment plant.
What an excellent and poignant observation.
Academia has traditionally always been about the open and free pursuit
of knowledge, in a framework of generally accepted axioms and standards.
Microsoft has, single handedly, not only managed to break those
standards (in the field of Computing), but also inhibit the
dissemination of information for those broken standards, and encourage
others to do likewise, thus poisoning the field of computing with their
bourgeois and egotistical rhetoric.
This is a direct contradiction of the field of academic study, so it
amazes me that some schools, colleges, and universities standardise
their curricula to these proprietary standards and software, even in the
full and certain knowledge that it violates every academic principle in
the book.
I'm very fortunate to have been spared being tainted by Microsoft's evil
indoctrination. My first exposure to computing was many years before
Microsoft's vile grip on society, and throughout my education I never
even had to glimpse at a Windows machine, let alone use one. I pity the
children of today, who grow up believing that Computers = Windows.
In fact, had it not been for the fact that my first (and last) ever
pre-built (IBM/Intel compatible) PC came with Windows pre-installed, I
would probably have never even seen Windows first-hand, let alone used
it. I have lived, learned, and worked almost exclusively in *nix
environments for most of my life, with the exception of a short-lived
period where I assisted friends and family with their many Windows
related problems (a practise I have since withdrawn from). During that
time I've also had exposure to other architectures as well, of course,
such as Amigas, but my professional life has been exclusively on *nix.
On the very rare occasions that any employer has ever asked me to deal
with Windows, I have flatly (but politely) refused. Fortunately, as a
self-employed contractor I had that luxury, many others are not so lucky.
Microsoft may have brought jobs to many people the world over, but at
what cost to those people's integrity. Selling one's soul to the devil
may reap great rewards, but it also ensures eternal damnation.
As for the question of outsourcing: this is not a problem unique to the
IT industry. Microsoft may be the largest exploiter of human resources,
and certainly one of the most vocal protagonists of predatory ideals,
but believe it or not there are far more greedy and abusive forces in
the quest for globalisation; e.g. the oil and pharmaceutical industries.
--
K.
http://slated.org - Slated, Rated & Blogged
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| "Future archaeologists will be able to identify a 'Vista Upgrade
| Layer' when they go through our landfill sites" - Sian Berry, the
| Green Party.
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Fedora Core release 5 (Bordeaux) on sky, running kernel 2.6.19-1.2288.fc5
08:36:06 up 14 days, 20:01, 3 users, load average: 0.07, 0.04, 0.00
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