As tons of people now know – it was one of the most looked at pieces here in the last month or so – I had a few thoughts on how Microsoft could recruit developers from new audiences by giving their blessing to the Mono project. Well, it turns out that they got a much better idea. They’ve instead turned to what Homer Simpson once termed, “the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems” – our good friend alcohol.
As I’ve been following on his blog (which is worth subscribing to, FWIW), and Scoble noted this morning, Matt Raible – a J2EE developer and the man behind AppFuse – is currently being wined and dined by Microsoft out in Washington (note to anyone trying to wine and dine this analyst: do not use wine, stick with beer).
To what intent and purpose were Matt and the other attendees brought in? For critiques, apparently.
After talking with a lot of Microsoftees (including the lady who came up the idea), this whole week seems pretty harmless. They want us to critique their products and strategies and tell them what they’re doing wrong. (link)
I’ve been pretty hard on Microsoft’s tunnel vision when it comes to other platforms, but I give them credit here for being proactive and getting competitive practioners in for some genuine feedback. With a cast of Java and Linux advocates involved, I’m interested to see what the session is like, and apparently Matt’s under no NDA restrictions.
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