As a Windows Programmer, I have to tell you... (Score 1)

...nothing could be worse for Linux than "hordes of windows programmers". I've spent 10 years developing on Unix, Mac but mostly Windows. While there are a good programmers in the windows world, the only reasonable definition of "windows programmer" -- a very general term-- is the average guy with 2 years of Win95 experience flooding employment agencies. Let me tell you- these people can't program. Their idea of development is to instantiate the appropriate MFC (or god forbid VB controls) classes and link them together iwth a few lines of code. If you ask them to implement functionality not already in MFC (or VB) or easily derived from them, then it takes them forever. If you ask them to name two situations in which you don't want to use an object, they can't name any (and there are lots, even C++ lovers concede it.) I don't know what educational institutions are churning these guys out, but I am continually shocked at how quickly the average "Windows programmer" skillset has dropped over the years.

However, in contrast the people I've met from the Linux community are unusually clued in about technology and good programming practices (though, I have to concede my opinion might change after I start digging thru the kernel) -- and though it seems like a young crowd, somebody taught you guys right!

So, on the contrary-- I think Linux is the only avenue to bring legitimacy to the Windows programmer crowd! The profession of programmer is getting a bad rep with the dilution of quality, and the MSCE (Microsoft Seems to Certify Everyone) attitude these days has me feeling nauseous.

Jay