[sclug] Microsoft recruiting in Reading Uni

[James Wyper]

Hassling a M$ employee might be fun for you, but please bear the
following points in mind:

- He or she is probably doing this because they are paid to (unlike
most Open Source enthusiasts, who use/develop Open Source because they
choose to).  Is it really fair to disrupt them, when they are only
doing a (perfectly legal and, in the opinion of most of the population,
ethically unimpeachable) job?

- I haven't yet had the chance to attend one of the monthly pub meets,
but I'm pretty confident that you'd be hacked off if a M$ advocate
turned up and droned on and on about XP / Office 2003 / whatever

- Perhaps most importantly, one of the major barriers to more
widespread Open Source and Linux adoption is the perception (note -
**perception**) that it's still the plaything of hackers with limited
social skills and no conception of the "real" world of business.  This
sort of thing plays into the hands of anyone wishing to reinforce that
perception.  I'm not suggesting that it would happen, but just imagine
if you or someone else did go along to barrack the event, and M$'s PR
department got hold of the news..

I'm 95% certain that you were talking in jest, and I hope that you're
not personally affronted by my reply (I **don't** want to start a flame
war), but IMO the points I've raised are serious ones that we should
bear in mind when considering better and worse methods of Linux
advocacy.

Regards,
James.

 --- Tom Chance <lists at tomchance.org.uk> wrote: 
> Hello,
> 
> If anyone feels like asking awkward questions of a Microsoft employee
> related 
> to careers:
> 
> ---
> Career options with Microsoft. An informal and informative employer
> presentation for all degree disciplines - you don't need to be
> intending
> to apply to come along. Thursday 28th October in HUMMS room 27 6pm
> start
> - sign up in Careers if you would like to come along
> ---
> 
> I assume you'd have to be a student in the Uni. Still, these things
> can be fun 
> either to persuade students attending that they shouldn't work for
> Microsoft, 
> or just to raise concerns you might have with the company.
> Unfortunately I've 
> got a meeting that I can't avoid at that time :(
> 
> Regards,
> Tom
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>  


	
	
		
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