Discussions

Yeah, that was the first and only tag line for the Coffeehouse. Bryn Waibel wrote it.

C

Here's the most recent round of conversations with the kernel team: http://channel9.msdn.com/tags/inside-windows-8

C

@felix9: I don't think any of these axioms are not in motion today across all teams inside Microsoft with large code bases, with some amount of external enlistments (minus the OSS realities)... Windows is the canonical example, of course, but it's not the only large and complex code base maintained by multiple teams of engineers with varying levels of seniority and expertise.

C

@Bass: I didn't say it was the solution to any problem... I stated only that it is the appropriate response to his voluntary action.
C

46 minutes ago, Bass wrote

Why stop there? I know lets fire all the Microsoft employees talking crap on MiniMSFT's website too. Obviously to accomplish this Microsoft needs to institute a McCarthy-like investigation of all the company's employees.

Because that would be stupid. We're having an intelligent conversation here.

C

@Sven Groot:

In any job, one experiences periods of doubt (self-doubt, doubt about any number of things related to what one is working on or where one works), unhappiness, remorse, anxiety, sadness, anger, confusion, happiness, fulfillment, excitement, deep focus, joy, satisfaction, success. When the bad stuff happens, you only make things worse by crapping on your coworkers (who, in this case, probably aren't his coworkers) and making your company look like it's run by spoiled children... No, I have no interest in helping this individual.

That said, at Microsoft, we continually evaluate our culture, which is the only way to change what doesn't work - you have to understand what the issues are and then come up with practical solutions. Over the years, we have made changes to fix problems with our operational models and we've invented new problems, too, but this doesn't mean when things go wrong for you, for whatever reason, you anonymously post your criticisms to the Internet and cry foul in a sensationalistic way. And then to top it off you assert that Windows kernel developers somehow don't spend quality time on performance and optimization (of existing and new code)? That really pisses me off.

Imagine if we all aired our personal grievances, say, with our personal relationships (well, some do, I guess, but most of us don't...). What if I posted here on C9 about problems I'm having in my personal life and that the problems stem from how screwed up life really is (as of course I get what life is all about) and how everybody around me doesn't get it and they're all just a bunch of half-crazed monkeys wandering aimlessly through time? What if I chose to blame my problems on people that have little to do with the problems I'm facing, if anything, blaming them for the failure(s) at hand, even if they have nothing to do with it? "Damn crazy apes!"...

I don't speak on behalf of Microsoft. I'm comfortable with my real identity, with nothing to hide. I think this employee is not somebody that should work for Microsoft. We need people who want to work here, who want to help us succeed in this new age of personal computing, who are passionate about technology and respectful of their peers and fellow employees, are smart enough to know the difference between sending a well written, balanced, intelligent email to your GM or VP expressing concerns in a rational way, versus airing half-truths and what amounts to slander as an anonymous entity on the Internet...

So, to answer your great question, Sven, the problem is not what to do after something like this happens, it's about learning how to be a mature employee and know that if there is something really wrong going on around you related to work, a solution is easier to find internally rather than on reddit, Slashdot or Mary Jo Foley's blog... If, after you try to solve the issues in a responsible and respectful way inside your group, you fail to make progress, then you'd be better off moving on to something new, perhaps somewhere else. Life is too short.

C

@wtfhIsMicrosoftDoing: That's my sentiment, not Microsoft's... C

This thread has spun its course. Move along.

C

Having had several conversations with kernel developers over the years (and you've seen many of them in video format right here on C9...), it's clear to me that this person is junior and also not a member of the Windows kernel engineering team. I suspect he's some junior program manager (or developer) working in some other part of Windows. I hope we find him. I look forward to hearing the news of his dismissal from Microsoft.

His post is (I have to assume this person is a male of the species, so I will...) full of BS as it relates to what kernel developers spend their time working on. There is an enormous investment in performance and optimization, from schedulers to power management. With each iteration of Windows there are significant improvements in the kernel - related precisely to performance (and security and reliability, of course). If you've spent any time listening to actual Windows kernel developers over the years here on Channel 9, it would be quite obvious that the person blogging this BS doesn't write code that ships in the Windows kernel. He said so himself, in fact: "While I have read and write access to the Windows source and commit to it once in a while...". Yeah, you may be a junior dev (at best) working somewhere in Windows (or some other team that checks code into the Windows source depot), not a member of the kernel team. They only hire very smart people.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out...

C

@davewill:

Yes, it was rude. I think mods should wait a bit longer, but then again when is too long? When is too short? Lots of subjectivity here.

C