I'm off to Microsoft's MGX conference (Microsoft Global Exchange) in Orlando this week. At MGX, the global sales force converges to learn and understand what's new, and what's going on. I'm going along to get a feel for what the evangelists are doing, and to communicate with some groups. I'm not too sure what to expect at this one, I'm actually excited to see what goes down.
Next Week tho' will be quite the event--OSCON is the O'Reilley's Open Source Convention in Portland.
This will be a great place to get together for anyone who's interested in Open Source (on Windows or not...) I'm rolling into town on Sunday, July 22 and leaving late Friday. I'm bringin' my video camera, and I'll be making people, projects and places famous.
If you are going to OSCON, drop me a line (garretts (at) microsoft.com ) Especially if you work for Microsoft!
I was in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada last week for a day talking to the students at the University of Waterloo about the Open Source Labs at Microsoft, and about working at Microsoft as an intern or full time employee. Now, I grew up in the era of computer languages coming out of the guys down there. Watcom C, C++, Fortran... ah those were the days. I never went to no University (never took to book learnin'--out on the range, only thing you need to rustle code is your trusty Model M under your fingers) so I was actually kinda excited to see how the city-folk did it.
I got there about a half hour before my session and setup the projector and whatnot, and the recruiter from Microsoft had a box full of goodies for me to give away after I was done--which brings me to a really good point: when Microsoft comes a-courtin', stay till the end--the prizes are often worth it. In addition to the predictable t-shirts, software, keyboards and mice, I gave away a pretty darn nice digital camera, with a bunch of accessories. At the end of the night, I drew names, and let them pick their prize.
Now, I know that y'all in the city do things a tad different, but what happened next completely knocked me off my horse. The first name I drew came up, looked over this items and picked... a t-shirt! ... The next one picked a copy of Expression Blend -- ok, that was cool, but still--a pretty nice digital camera. The next one picked up a keyboard and mouse combo. Finally the fourth one took the digital camera. I never thought I'd have so much trouble giving away a camera :)
I had a great time talking with the students; we covered what the OSSL lab has done, where we're headed and what can we do to get better. I got to talk about my time at Microsoft, working in the product group, and now in the OSSL. They were very nice to me, and I think they got alot out of it too.
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Folks have been asking me, how can we believe that Microsoft is changing to see open source in a positive light.
Microsoft has been hiring a lot of people over the last several years--Since YE2002 we've went from ~50,000 employees to ~78,000 employees. That means the over 1/3 of the company has been with the company less than 5 years. Not only does that bring in new perspectives, but it also helps shape the company by changing the way people think. A lot of people who have been with Microsoft over 5 years have a different perspective, and have a lot of learning to do. The new blood however, has grown up with the world of Open Source, and has a different perspective. I'm interested in helping them the whole company see that, and cascade these changes through the enterprise. I'm sure that by focusing on the positives that we can do better.
All I ever ask, is two things:
- Judge the company by its actions, and not by its words (Hmm. this sounded better when I was thinking it--these are words too... I guess you watch for actions--I'll try to point them out). My pappy always used to say "Don't judge people by their relatives." -- good advice at the best of times.
- Help change Microsoft, by showing the company how it can work better by accepting Open Source, not as a threat, but an opportunity to engage customers of all kinds.
Over the last year, Microsoft product groups have started over 150 open-source projects, all hosted on CodePlex. My pappy also used to say "Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction." Well, pardner, lawyers are just as tricky to deal with. You can only imagine the wrangling that has gone on with the legal department to get projects started--it's still a tricky process, but it's evolving. We must aim to encourage more of that, and see more participation in the real world.
We have two extensions for Firefox that we've been involved with. (I'm still shocked at that!) The first, is a Windows Media Player plug-in. The second is the CardSpace Identity Selector extension that Kevin Miller and I wrote--and I aim to get some code added to the main Firefox build this year to help support Information Cards on all platforms that Firefox supports. Pat Felsted and the stalwart band of Identity gurus at the Bandit Project have been working hard towards this.
I'm resisting the temptation to do a whole-lot of one-offs, as I'm trying to find ways to scale the benefits I can provide to the community. I have a limited budget, but I have contacts and friends with deeper pockets. When my goals and theirs align, we can milk that for a lot.
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