Check out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/technology/17SOFT.html?ei=5007&en=32d4d1af8909b6e6&ex=1032840000&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=top
Kiczales, as we all know, is the guy behind both the MOP and aspect
oriented programming.
Simonyi was at PARC in the glory days, went to Microsoft in the
early 1980s where he is credited with starting the MS Word
project, and has lately been talking about "intentional
programming".
····@vanderbilt.edu (sv0f) writes:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/technology/17SOFT.html?ei=5007&en=32d4d1af8909b6e6&ex=1032840000&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=top
>
> Kiczales, as we all know, is the guy behind both the MOP and aspect
> oriented programming.
well, he'll probably have to undo bad habits developed over years of
gross hackery at MS. Knowing that he was the "chief architect" of some
of MS's most bug-ridden programs doesn't say much for him as a
developer, and doesn't bode well for this company (though it may still
be acquired by MS for gagillions of dollars).
MS Word, as we all know, has caused more pain and suffering in the
computer world than just about any other single application. It's been
used as the medium for probably hundreds if not thousands of viruses to
spread across computers, and even now continues to cause problems:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/13/179235&mode=thread&tid=172
is just another recent one. It is the smallpox blanket of software
applications. An innocent text file turns into an infectious virus. I
wonder how many suicides can be attributed to MS Word over the years
(from people who lost data because of bugs, viruses, etc.) I'm
surprised that more people don't sue MS for such things (e.g. instead of
suing Ozzy because of his "suicidal" lyrics).
MS was genius in marketing; they are amazing at convincing their users
that it's normal to have to reboot a computer every day to "make it go
faster again" and other nonsense. Legally, the company has successfully
fooled and cheated the public, their competitors, and has unfairly
monopolized a huge market, making many inept executives (and ruthless
lawyers) rich, and bankrupting companies that had better software. The
fact that this guy could stay with MS for this much time makes me
distrust him -- and of course to bring my expectation of what he might
be capable of producing [technically] down to dust. Of course, he might
bring the ruthless business practices and marketing know-how to the
table.
Not much comment on Kiczales, whose work on MOP I love, and whose AOP I
don't know much about, but I've heard great things about it from
knowledgeable people in the Java/Jython community.
I would bet money that Kiczales is working with this guy only because of
his contacts and success at MS, but secretly hopes that this guy doesn't
actually try to get too deeply involved in innovation. It's very likely
that Simonyi doesn't really sense this, and actually thinks that he's
wanted for some kind of technical merit. Fold up your laptop,
Simonyi...it's time to retire while you're ahead (or, should I say,
before you do even more damage).
dave
In article <···············@nerd-xing.mit.edu>, Dave Bakhash
<·····@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>I would bet money that Kiczales is working with this guy only because of
>his contacts and success at MS, but secretly hopes that this guy doesn't
>actually try to get too deeply involved in innovation. It's very likely
>that Simonyi doesn't really sense this, and actually thinks that he's
>wanted for some kind of technical merit.
Perhaps they were colleagues at PARC before Simonyi left for
Microsoft? A quick Google search did not reveal Kiczales'
vita, so I am not sure when he got there.
Dave Bakhash wrote:
> ····@vanderbilt.edu (sv0f) writes:
>
>
>>http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/technology/17SOFT.html?ei=5007&en=32d4d1af8909b6e6&ex=1032840000&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=top
...
> MS was genius in marketing; they are amazing at convincing their users
> that it's normal to have to reboot a computer every day to "make it go
> faster again" and other nonsense. Legally, the company has successfully
> fooled and cheated the public, their competitors, and has unfairly
> monopolized a huge market, making many inept executives (and ruthless
> lawyers) rich, and bankrupting companies that had better software. The
...
> I would bet money that Kiczales is working with this guy only because of
> his contacts and success at MS, but secretly hopes that this guy doesn't
> actually try to get too deeply involved in innovation. It's very likely
> that Simonyi doesn't really sense this, and actually thinks that he's
> wanted for some kind of technical merit. Fold up your laptop,
> Simonyi...it's time to retire while you're ahead (or, should I say,
> before you do even more damage).
>
> dave
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/technology/17SOFT.html?ei=5007&en=32d4d1af8909b6e6&ex=1032840000&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=top
"[...]And Microsoft holds a right to be the first to negotiate with
Intentional Software if the company comes up for sale.[...]"
Negotiate.
Contitions.
Whose?
On 18 Sep 2002 02:22:15 -0400, Dave Bakhash <·····@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> well, he'll probably have to undo bad habits developed over years of
> gross hackery at MS. Knowing that he was the "chief architect" of some
> of MS's most bug-ridden programs doesn't say much for him as a
> developer, and doesn't bode well for this company (though it may still
In case you are interested in learning more about the guy, you may check
the book "Programmers at work" by Susan Lammers (Microsoft Press). The
chapter on Simonyi also has short C code fragment from an early version of
Word, when it still run on DOS.
Paolo
--
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http://www.paoloamoroso.it/ency/README