And to that they'd say, so what? It wouldn't be their first loss. It wouldn't hurt any more than a slap on the wrist. It wouldn't damage their worst PR damage. You also seem to miss the whole thing of embrace. They wouldn't be reneging on any their promises. They'd feed Mono with Microsoft dev mindshare. They would build it up to become a strong product house. They would then make moves to bring Mono development more and more in-house...if not outright buy all rights to the product and its name.

It would then continue to develop and grow as Microsoft extends its functionality as an inhouse product. Finally, once they have deemed the project sunsetted, the product is extinguished.

This is the path they took with Halo. This is what they did with MechWarrior. This is (essentially) what happened with Cygwin. Unless Nadella is being completely sincere about a New Microsoft (so far he seems to be, which is good...but, we'll have to see what kind of track record he holds on the very long term), this is something that I believe we can expect to see again with Mono.

It's called Tumblr.

Hi! You must be new to this earth; Welcome!

Embrace, Extend, Extinguish, anyone? Microsoft has historically done more than enough to make it where "nobody would trust them again" on multiple PR fronts (the one that pissed me off and affected me more directly was what they did with MechWarrior, but there's a lot more than that). They seem to be doing fine... and there aren't many people or companies beyond Linux users who even know what the hell Mono is that matter in the eyes of Microsoft. For those companies that do happen to rely on Mono for Linux, you can bet that Microsoft would extend their own offering of a .NET platform for Linux using the remnants of Mono that they embraced. Companies that matter to Microsoft's world don't care about ethics, they only want solutions.

Long story short: The PR hit on MSFT would be miniscule compared to other PR hits that the company has already taken throughout their history (even the Simpsons used the 3 E's as a gag for an episode, complete with Bill Gates as a guest star), and probably not even noticed by anyone who mattered.

The company didn't give me any paperwork or forms except for the contract terms. I had to file the 1099 myself at the end of the quarter. I also had to bond with the state for that time period (3 months) and it was that bond that made me legal as a contractor. I was essentially covering for the owner while he took a 3 month cruise with his wife one summer. I was not restricted from working any other job beyond maintaining an open storefront during normal business hours. I was also able to perform that duty in any way I saw fit. If I wanted to subcontract out someone to watch the storefront for me, I was given leeway to do that (made easier by the fact that storefront duties were under a different log entry code than repair duties). If I wanted to work for a competitor, I was perfectly able to do so, though the nearest competitor was 50 miles away (came to find out later that for the Georgia mountain region, that was a drop in the bucket compared to what I was used to in Connecticut).

So are you saying...nuke it from orbit?

We could nuke it from orbit with enough nukes that the NEO trajectory could be adjusted to come into earth orbit. Essentially we could nuke it into orbit from orbit to nuke it repeatedly while it orbits, dawg!

One last one... That's no Moon! That's a NEO...it really is the One! Just call it Mr. Anderson.

There was a time I did computer repair as an Independent Contractor for a Repair Business. I filed as a 1099. That was my only income at the time. I was not an employee. I was not entitled to benefits. My job there evaporated at a pre-determined end of contract date (which happened to coincide with the start of the next school year). Try again.

I can agree with this. I have a Saitek Cyborg that has the poppable module to convert the left thumb controls to either PS style or X-Box style. I was used to the PS style of control so for a long time I had it in the PS configuration. Unfortunately, I began feeling numbness in my left thumb when I was using the left A-stick during prolonged sessions. When I swapped it to X-Box style, the fatigue went away. After discovering this I started using the feature to adapt to the game I was playing. D-pad heavy games I used PS style, A-stick heavy: X-box style. Haven't had a problem with fatigue or numbness since.

As someone who escaped Connecticuticuticuticut 15 years ago.... I think Massachusetts and Connecticut are in direct competition for how costly and corrupt each government can make their respective states. But there's one thing that Connecticut has claim to that trumps Massachusettes: CT elected and re-elected current RIAA CEO and Chairman Christopher Dodd to the senate for 30 straight years! Beat that ya wannabe Irish Bastards!

Agreed. And the guy being interviewed seems to be on the same side of the argument we are. The media however are trying to spin this. I detect a hint of disdain in the tone of the anchorwoman as she goes over the list of repairs that were deemed a higher priority... Like replacing boilers, roofs, and removing asbestos... None of which are cheap. The bloody computer system works. It has its problems, but it works on 30 year old hardware. If it works on that there's no need to build out a 1.5 mil system to replace it. A modest modern desktop system to run the controller, upgrade the radios to get it off the communication frequency, and a good service contract with whoever you get that desktop from...you've got a system that'll last another 30 years for less than half the proposed budget.