Bill Gates Stepping Down...
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As announced on just about every major news station in the US. Here's the Microsoft press release:
Microsoft Announces Plans for July 2008 Transition for Bill Gates
Granted, it's a two year transition, but it still is newsworthy. Any thoughts?
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley -
Just this morning I was reading Joel's first BillG review...interesting glimpse of the great man...and one whom Joel calls a "real, actual programmer"...
All the news items say that "change is good" and is about time in the Microsoft kingdom..Hearing him on the news yesterday saying that he wants to focus more on his charitable foundation and that he must put his riches to good use is definitely laudable..to me it speaks of someone who is not so much "stepping down" as "moving on"..
**ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI !!!** -
True, moving on is probably a better way to put it. He's said it many times that he has planned to give away the bulk of his wealth to help others. So far he has lived up to that. It'll be interesting to see what this man does in the next five years, not so much from a software perspective, but from a humanitarian one.
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley -
He definitely has been spreading his wealth around. He does a lot here in Washington state that never makes the (inter)national news. And yet, for all of his philanthropy, he's never given me a single dime. What's up with that?
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The lack of response to this topic is refreshing. It manages to restore the faith I hold in my fellow technology workers. Bill is retiring in 2 years ... BFD ... servers, databases and applications still have to be attended to and the platforms and software that they reside on are not going to crumble or change overnight. Life goes on and the price of tea in China remains the same !
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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"oh yeah...Life goes on..."...
Rudy - not that I want to shake that restored faith or anything..
..but are you saying that it'll be a "seamless" transition and the world at large will not even realize that there's no BG manning the helm anymore ?!?!
**ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI !!!** -
Sushila, if you reread the MS press elease article more carefully you'll digest the fact that this 'transition' in MS has been occurring for some time now (the last few years I believe). Bill has been stepping away from the limelight for some time now. This recent step back is from the 'architect' position. Prior to this, he stepped down from CEO. He will still chair the board and be a 'key' advisor. So yes, I'm saying it will be seamless because more than half of the transition has already occurred and nary a soul raised a whimper ! So ...
... BFD ... servers, databases and applications still have to be attended to ...
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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Rudy and Sushila,
I would put it this way: ..Information has to be attended to...
The question is: in what format? 50 years ago there was no server concept, but there was a database concept unrelated to the hardware: matrixes etc and it was a file cabinet even before that. Not talking about information on the cave walls.
I personally say that I support databases in different formats including sticky notes.
For the alternative information storage read
The Goblin Reservation
Have a good weekend,
Regards,Yelena Varsha
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Thw written word is like SQL ... there are many ways to express the same function ... Thanks Yelena !
Have Great Weekend !
P.S. My weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 90s this weekend !
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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Rudy, I respectfully disagree. I think it is a big deal when someone who has had such an impact as Bill Gates does change directions as he has. It might not be as noticeable because the change is gradual over a length of time, but consider this, we've gone from Bill being at the complete helm to Microsoft appointing the guy who developed Lotus Notes as its Chief Software Architect.
Also, with Bill able to devote his time primarily to his charity, as opposed to the part-time focus he currently devotes, he has shown that he has the vision and focus to change the world once. Can he do it a second time, but this time in a humanitarian role?
You're right, servers and databases need attending to. But we shouldn't be so stuck in the minutae to see things in a bigger context.
K. Brian Kelley
@kbriankelley -
I think it will continue the erosion of the MS culture. It used to be a cool place to work with quite a bit of excitement. The past few years the XBOX and MSN groups may have had that, but the other products are stagnating a bit. Maybe it's the nature of the beast, but I think the less Bill Gates is involved, the less it's a company and the more it turns into an investment for most of the management there.
I hope he continues to do some keynotes because I think he's a very good speaker.
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If you read carefully, even after 2008, he will spend more time on Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, but he will remain as company's chairman and an advisor on key development project. Microsoft is his baby and software development is his passion, he will never step away !!!
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Hope we are not referiing to Plekhanov's "Role of the Individual in History"
and the history will gracefully survive even after the whole Microsoft direction shifts following the market calls. I don't think that Bills' change in priorities will affect anything short-term except for the better managing his charity money. I have much greater concerns with the whole Microsoft approach to programming and product complexity, but I will leave it to the separate topic.
I am also concerned if Bill figured out something I did not think of yet, and I wish he shares with us his real reasons.
P.S.- Talking about the weather, we hit 92 F yesterday (this is about 33 C for the rest of the world), it was nice at the beach!
Regards,Yelena Varsha
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