Re: [DotGNU].Net vote rigging

[Rhys Weatherley]

Bill Lance wrote:

> A bizzar but unsurprising item for those countering MS
> .NET PR.
>
> http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2102244,00.html

Not that bizzare.  Such rigging happens all the time, which is
why net polls are essentially useless.  The poll was showing
a lot of support for Java before Microsoft employees started
rigging the vote.

For another take on the Java vs .NET thing, I was involved
in a panel discussion at the Software Engineering Australia
Queensland (SEAQ) conference on the Gold Coast in
October 2001.

I was on the .NET team (of course), presenting the view that
.NET isn't from a single source.  That there are upcoming
alternatives designed to make "write once, run everywhere"
work for .NET also.

We lost.  Completely buried.  The reason: Java exists, and
.NET doesn't.  So most people are leaning towards the
devil they know.  There's a lot of hard work ahead to change
these attitudes.  But then, there was a time when most
corporate developers considered the Internet to be an
academic toy with no real use.  Things change.

Cheers,

Rhys.