I had a lot of fun creating allrite@. There is something about learning and experimenting with a new programming language (Python) in Linux. As I trawled the web for instructions and tips there was a sense of participating in an enthusiastic group who took pleasure in contributing their knowledge to the greater community.

I never feel the same way about the Microsoft programming community. There is still a lot of enthusiasm, but it’s a kind of bulldog enthusiasm, charging in and saying Microsoft is the way, the only way and get the f!@# out of my way. You want standards and interoperability? We’ve got our standards and interoperability between our own products: you don’t need anything else.

Want some extra functionality? Somebody has a product/plugin for that. Now hand over your credit card details…

Microsoft’s programming languages and tools may have a lot going for them and I certainly use their products on a daily basis. But it’s not fun.