Flashback from yesterday’s events…

I had this meeting for a proposal for a very small project. I didn’t expect that this client was going to be big. I’m taking this project (just like any project) because I always like the smell of a challenge and show people what open source software (OSS) can do.

I talked to the CIO of the company, their inhouse development Team Lead/Analyst, another manager and my contact. The CIO was well informed about OSS, and the Analyst admitted that Linux is more secure than Windows.

The cool thing was that the Analyst and probably his team are big fans of Microsoft. He was even wearing an Intel-Microsoft jacket which he thought made him look smart and cool. As we boil down to some of the requirements, some of the questions that came into mind was that they’d need another sysad for the Linux box and the system (it doesn’t even qualify as a system by my standard) will have to connect to their MS SQL Server 2000.

First off, the server will almost be self-sufficient that they’ll barely need a sysad for the box. All the stuff that this sysad will do is check disk space, if there were breaches, check the CPU load, do routine backups and update the software. Most of these tasks can be done automatically and this “system administrator” only needs to check on it every now and then. I’d train a guy or two for free, provided they’re skilled and experienced enough. I heard of something like one of their admins lackin skill in administering a Windows server. How hard could it be to manage a server with a mouse? Isn’t it supposed to be easier? Man. We need to raise our standards here.

As for the MS SQL Server 2000, I can live with that. I’m just a lazy slob and I don’t want to recomple PHP only to enable one library.

After the meeting, my contact and the analyst discussed the requirements for the project. The project was supposed to be developed inhouse but their offer was ridiculously overpriced, even with MS software. I know this is so unprofessional but I almost couldn’t keep myself from snickering as he showed me the pages that they originally planned. Or maybe it’s natural for MS developers to be this …er …detailed.

Then two other guys came. You know, the guys that usually walk around and looking for something to get involved in (in an annoying way). So the discussion came down to the administration again and how their IT staff wouldn’t like it. I was trying to explain that you don’t need to defragment your drive and need an antivirus or some sort for it. They argued that they already have the OS so they wouldn’t have to buy the software. Of course, I countered and said that you don’t have to pay for Linux.

Interoperability was also mentioned. It’s funny that he thought the other way around. He said that the problem with Linux is it can’t read Excel files because it refuses to. I’m sorry my friend but it’s the other way around. The libraries I use can’t read Excel files because its format is not publicly disclosed. It’s not even close to human readable text. Tell me, how many database servers can .NET or VB6 natively connect to? I’m betting that it’s less than how many PHP can.

It’s funny that these guys tend to overkill their quotations and requirements. They bought blade servers which are hell a lot more than enough. It’s arrogant, stupid and too safe to be sorry.

I know I sound like an arrogant airhead myself right now but I know we can do better. Violent reactions and destructive comments are welcome only when I disprove what I just wrote.

By the way, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Microsoft. In fact, I have friends who work there. I even have friends who develop with MS platforms but they are a lot smarter than these guys. It’s just that I can’t develop MS apps for shit and if you want to talk about pricing and cost, don’t bother bitching about it because you won’t stand a chance with my offer.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 at 21.12 and is filed under Techitude. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.