+972 52-548-6969
ALT.NetIt is not us vs. them...
Dave Laribee had a great post where he details some of the qualities of an open minded developer. He also coined the term ALT.NET.
A few others has taken this idea and extedned and bulleted it. I really don't like it. I have two main issues with making this idea into a series of boolean bullet points.
Saying things like "An ALT.NET developer would be using Castle Windsor before Enterprise Libraries ObjectBuilder.", or "An ALT.NET developer was using NHibernate before the Entity Framework." is giving the wrong impression. It gives the impression of you are either with us (good) and against us (bad). And you must follow Our (notice the royality speak) way and no other.
The other objection is that it is focusing on tools and not on a mind set. The way I see it, this is much more about keeping your head open to new approach and ideas, regardless of where they come from. In short, I really like the ideas and concepts that Dave presents, I don't want the idea to turn into "A .NET developers that seeks to use non Microsoft technologies." I would much rather it be "A developer that seeks to find the best tools and practices, and judge them on merit."
We as an industry has enough problems with the "We Are A Microsoft Shop, Do Not Write Non Microsoft Certified Code!" apprach, we don't need it in the other direction. Prejudice can go both ways, after all, and reverse racism is just as unacceptable.
More posts in "ALT.Net" series:
- (04 Mar 2009) Alienation by adoption
- (01 May 2007) It is not us vs. them...
Comments
Well said.
Thank you.
Amen!
Oren,
I think you misunderstood the meaning of my post. I never had an intention of saying its "us versus them"
One key piece of my post included this:
"once Microsoft does emulate your tool/solution, you make a serious attempt to conform to their solution if it meets your needs better."
My point was that if you are ALT.NET, you are willing to look at other frameworks for implementations an ideas as well as consider the Microsoft approach to a problem if it's more relevant to the problem at hand.
Whether you chose to use a particular framework before a Microsoft alternative presented itself doesn't mean you are necessarily showing some kind of royalty towards it. It just means you are more open to try other solutions before they are shrink wrapped by MS.
Alt.Net is about using what works. I completely agree that the 2 posts you note are very odd when placed into the context of what Dave really meant by the post. Good play on finding those and pointing them out.
Karthik,
I don't think that I misunderstood. I wasn't talking about the post itself, but on the trend and the affect it can cause.
Great post.
To me, it is all about the tools. If the best tool for the job is open source, then i will use it. If the best tool is an M.S. tool, then i will use it as well.
I agree with you Oren. I like Laribee's original four points a lot.
Glad you got the point Oren! Then again I'd be surprised if you didn't... in many ways you're the poster child for the kind of developer I was talking about: participation, alternative methods, finding what works best, etc.
I would like to comment on the name ALT.NET. I agree with what David Laribee meant and Ayende clarified. I think that others are getting off track and forgetting that the central principle is to focus on the solutions that the tools enable. This requires and open mind: to be available to change no matter where it comes from. This is an inclusive frame of mind. The word ALT pushes away from the core of what David tried to capture in the label. I would like to propose a change in the label: Noble.NET. Everything that David describes is noble. There is nothing about the word noble that depends on excluding. ALT depends on some people being IN and some people being OUT. This creates the us and them mentality which is always an unhealthy place to be. Everyone can become a Noble.NET developer.
Comment preview