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IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

blog.jimmy.schementi.com

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Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#31

Post by rbanffy »

euroclydon wrote: post #5

Probably not that big of a deal if they stop supporting IronRuby. What's the point anyhow? Ruby is most popular because of RoR and Microsoft already has an MVC framework that works just fine. There was some very limited effort to port ASP.NET MVC to IronRuby, but it looked dead in the water to me. Plus, I hear straight up Ruby has built-in bindings for Windows, so IronRuby isn't necessary for scripting either.

> Microsoft already has an MVC framework that works just fine.

And that's where people miss the point. Is there any passion towards Microsoft's ASP.NET MVC thing? Because there a lot of passionate Rails enthusiasts around and it runs very well on top of the JVM.

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#32

Post by rbanffy »

ruang wrote: post #9

Interesting that he's going to a financial technology consulting firm whose products include algorithmic trading. It seems like that would be one of the last spaces to be interested in a dynamic scripting language versus pure speed.

> It seems like that would be one of the last spaces to be interested in a dynamic scripting language versus pure speed.

First make it work. Then, make it fast.

It's easier to optimize a correct program than to fix an optimized, but broken, one.

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#33

Post by rbanffy »

petercooper wrote: post #16

There's a big opportunity for the taking here for the right person with both .Net and Ruby experience and enough time on their hands. IronRuby might be a minor Ruby implementation but I suspect if it stays alive it could be a bigger deal in the .Net world and there could be a great consultancy business off the back of it, especially in skunkworks-type situations.

You do understand that when you build a company on something Microsoft is not doing, but that is adjacent to whatever they do, you risk being offered a ridiculous buyout offer, followed by a thorough carpet-nuking if they ever get interested in entering your business.

I saw that many times in the past. Microsoft is something you really want to stay away from.

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#34

Post by euroclydon »

petercooper wrote: post #16

There's a big opportunity for the taking here for the right person with both .Net and Ruby experience and enough time on their hands. IronRuby might be a minor Ruby implementation but I suspect if it stays alive it could be a bigger deal in the .Net world and there could be a great consultancy business off the back of it, especially in skunkworks-type situations.

I had to look up "skunkworks." I was wondering if it was just work that stinks, like people don't want to do it, but have to for some reason.

Well, besides being a Lockheed Martin trademark, apparently it means research and innovation by a loosely coupled team. Are there great consulting opportunities in research and innovation?

I think I'm seeing a pattern here. The main IronPython project I'm familiar with is Resolver, a spreadsheet targeted at the financial world, and now this guy leaves the IronRuby team to work for a company that consults for hedge funds. What I don't get is, what the heck is so great about .NET for these financial people? Can't they just run their calculations using scripting languages that have been out for the last ten or twenty years? What do they need the CLR/DLR for?

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#35

Post by thibaut_barrere »

euroclydon wrote: post #34
petercooper wrote: post #16

There's a big opportunity for the taking here for the right person with both .Net and Ruby experience and enough time on their hands. IronRuby might be a minor Ruby implementation but I suspect if it stays alive it could be a bigger deal in the .Net world and there could be a great consultancy business off the back of it, especially in skunkworks-type situations.

I had to look up "skunkworks." I was wondering if it was just work that stinks, like people don't want to do it, but have to for some reason. Well, besides being a Lockheed Martin trademark, apparently it means research and innovation by a loosely coupled team. Are there great consulting opportunities in research and innovation? I think I'm seeing a pattern here. The main IronPython project I'm familiar with is Resol…

> what the heck is so great about .NET for these financial people ?

A couple of points based on my experience at least:

- UI components (such as DevExpress ones) for charts and grids, with fairly good performance

- easier interop with Excel/Word (yes, this is important!)

- ability to reuse legacy C++ (I did this personally, porting and wrapping code from Solaris to C# and .Net through managed C++)

- C# itself is a good language, and it's easier to find recruits compared to say Ruby or Python (at least here in France)

Where I've worked at least, almost nobody uses "scripting languages", it's all Java or C# or C++.

I firmly believe that keeping IronRuby and IronPython alive will serve a purpose for people working in these fields!

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#36

Post by endtime »

mkn wrote: post #2

Possibly off-topic. "However, a year ago the team shrunk by half and our agility was severely limited. I’m omitting the internal reasons for this, as they are the typical big-company middle-management issues every software developer has." This is one of the things that can happen to you when you work at Microsoft. You can start thinking that the terrible work problems you face are both "typical big-company...issues"…

>There are many better places to work than Microsoft. The place seemed truly pathological to me.

Have you worked there? I was there last summer and I'm actually not convinced there are many better places to work.

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#37

Post by endtime »

rbanffy wrote: post #28
bad_user wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's a minimsft.blogspot.com, but is there an equivalent for Apple? For Google? If so, are they as well known? Do they draw knowledgeable commenters from within the ranks of the host/target company? Every corporation sucks in some way ... and if there isn't a minimsft equivalent for Google/Apple ... that's a point in Microsoft's favor.

> if there isn't a minimsft equivalent for Google/Apple ... that's a point in Microsoft's favor. How can you possibly arrive at this conclusion? Are you implying Apple and Google censor and/or brainwash their workforce to think they are perfectly happy?

Maybe not Google...

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#38

Post by rbanffy »

endtime wrote: post #37
rbanffy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if there isn't a minimsft equivalent for Google/Apple ... that's a point in Microsoft's favor. How can you possibly arrive at this conclusion? Are you implying Apple and Google censor and/or brainwash their workforce to think they are perfectly happy?

Maybe not Google...

A simpler explanation is that their employees simply like make cutting-edge, successful products they can be proud of.

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#39

Post by Locke1689 »

WalterGR wrote: post #20
Locke1689 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, Google embraces OSS when it doesn't affect their bottom line. Which is not to say that Microsoft embraces it. Even internally their policies are almost downright hostile.

Which is not to say that Microsoft embraces it. Even internally their policies are almost downright hostile. How so?

Sorry, can't say.

Re: IronRuby Manager Leaves Microsoft

#40

Post by WalterGR »

Locke1689 wrote: post #39
WalterGR wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is not to say that Microsoft embraces it. Even internally their policies are almost downright hostile. How so?

Sorry, can't say.

Okay, then. Since neither of us wants to violate our NDAs, I'll just say: you're wrong.
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