[dba-Tech] OT: Friday Humor: A new petition to supportoutdated(?)technologies...

Hi Gustav,

Yes, I first thought the original petition on IDL was a serious appeal. Then
I found they are kidding this way. Yes, that was a well made joke but these
very talented and of course highly skilled IT professionals look like more
and more "boiling in their own juice" (Russian ethimological expression).
Technology race to feed the "hungry" technology itself. A kind of a
self-satisfaction devil. Sad story...

I wish I have never programmed on MS Windows and if it ever happens I get a
good and longterm contract for Linux/Unix... whatever will interest me
professionally and financially and for me to have time to get skilled in the
mainstream development on this platforms then I'd not think for a long time
to make this transition decision. I did program on IBM 370 for 5+ years then
was 5+ years PDP11/RSX-11M, then 5+ years MS DOS and for 10 years now MS
Windows - that latter looks like drained too much of my "juice". I need to
change that probably. On the other hand the choices are not that large - I
don't like Java because its main purpose IMO was and still is to compete
with and to "kill" MS Windows platform...

> Of course, if the development involves a lot of discussion
> with clients for custom applications, the method will not
> be effective - these cases demand physical presence.
It could still be effective when working with Russians and East Europeans: I
did work with Germans and other Western European companies, but Germany is a
very representative example I think:

- it's well known that the IT-stuff of the German companies(I'm talking
about IT companies because I know about them only)  - the stuff of them is
"migrating" all around the country, often living in expensive hotels, the
managerial staff takes just a day long expensive shuttle business trips to
every corner of the Germany and other West European and not only West
European countries etc. The same happens all over the West Europe - this is
how the business works there. You know that better than me. Of course this
is Germans and the West Europeans own business to keep and count all that
expenses and after all these expenses are good(?) because they pump money
all over their countries and don't let their economies "to sleep"...

OK, you were talking about physical presence there - if I take the
representative IMO sample of German IT business then I could say that
expenses to get a developer from Russia there on-site for a short business
trip to talk to the customer are usually less than expenses for the German
IT-staff.(two way economic class plane ticket is usually cheaper than
internal Germany plane trip - this is a proven fact). Well the time is
two-three hours more to go there by plane taking into account we need to
usually be in airport two hours before departure but for business trips this
gap should be possible to minimize I think...

And I'm not talking here and I'm not proposing to substitute German IT-stuff
by having less expensive overheads Russian staff - I'm talking as I wrote in
my previous message about opening the new opportunities because with on
average lower overhead expenses and with lower rates the developers from
Russia can work based on (because of lower personal income tax rate here and
slightly lower life costs for comparable life level) - because of  all that
the projects, which will never start there because of their high costs,
these projects become financially approved and profitable when shared among
Western and Russian (West European) staff.

But I still see a few (literally none, maybe I'm missing something?) of such
joint staff venture companies here where IT-staff works as free and equally
respected employees from all over the World based on fair rates based on
real European level life costs here (it's less here as I wrote but not a
matter of magnitude like one may think) - I don't see that. I could be
blind. But I do know (I have heard that by my own ears) that it's a shame
there in your countries to pay for high quality work the money, which are
good enough just for simple foods and a cheap flat renting, some average
quality clothes and a used car spoiling this environment  - and (some
of/most of)  the Western businesses here they don't care about that, closing
their eyes on very high exploitation level here and participating in this
"unfair game". Yes, I know these Western businesses here are just a small
percent of the other serious and fair small- and middle-size businesses,
which do not hurry to invest in this economy because of corruption, unclear
business rules etc.etc. (this country problems of course) - but while your
fair business owners are sleeping there your unfair "colleagues" together
with "new Russians" are taking control on this country(wood processing
industry is controlled by US, Swedish and some other western countries
capitals etc.), exploiting its resources and its people to the max...

The most of the people here are getting mad of that, they don't believe
nobody anymore, they don't see any hopes for the near better future not only
for them but for their children also and the Western businesses here don't
make it any better the way they are doing business here when they may think
they are a kind of doing charity when giving work to the Russians....

I probably don't understand something in this life and World  but the big
money rules this world, the young people (my children included despite my
efforts, my mistake of course) are spoiled by talking and thinking a way too
much than it should have token about money - money is everything here now, a
child can't go to good school without money, you can't get good healthcare
without money(but even paying good money you can get into a  big trouble
like e.g I got with teeth implant), you can't get good sports (like tennis)
and well equipped fitness without money etc.etc - when one will count all
that expenses then the life costs become very high. Of course I can go for
sports jogging on the beach and eat porridge and cabbage and walk and use
only public transportation - then if I pay all that humble expenses for
myself and for my family then the salary, which Alcatel(French-Belgium
company branch here) managers are proposing here for a very serious position
of their IT stuff - then this will be enough. And they don't get ashamed of
that...

The state cares little about all that despite all the good words they
sometimes say, "new Russians" care little about that, Western businesses
here care a little bit more but still far less they care about their stuff
in their own countries for comparative work efforts...

What I wanted to say by all that hectic stuff above? - I wanted to say maybe
it's time to start fair direct business between our countries' peoples,
people to people, family to family, business to business, start small and
gradually growing big enough, leaving out of the board "old and new
Russians", spoiled bureaucrats, officials and politicians and "capitalistic
exploitation", playing fair game and paying fair salaries for good work This
is possible I'm sure despite the fact one may find me groundless dreamer...

There are good money in IT-business here you know. You may ask why then I'm
looking for my work there? I will try to explain: It happened this way that
I worked here for fifteen years after highschool and I didn't even think to
go there where you live when most of my colleagues were leaving and who are
still there, forever probably. I wanted to live and work in my homeland.
This was uneasy, very uneasy I must say with galloping inflation and empty
food shops shelves. Then occasionally I have got a work abroad. This was
occasionally, I mean that - I didn't even think this may happen real soon
and I didn't try to find my fortune there despite the fact I was already for
some time in Internet newsgroups etc. - this was my former colleague who
landed me this project who was starting an off-shore development company and
they urgently needed of an experienced MS Access programmer there in
Germany. I went there and I got the project with the salary ten times higher
than I was making here that time (the prices difference between West Europe
and Russia was quite high that time - this difference is almost zero now,
except gasoline and flat rents for average block houses flats). So I got
this project and I got into an international team and here where I found
what free (German) world in IT-software house means. That was very similar
to what we had here in Soviet times (believe me! I mean the way people work
as we worked here before Perestroika/Glasnost (I was a computer science
researcher/developer in Technical University) - we worked well, I'm working
the same way/quality now - many my western colleagues find this is a very
good work) except that they were paying good money for the good work done,
good enough to get everywhere in this World one may wish (that time I first
time in my life went to the tourist trip with family to Egypt), good enough
to have free time between projects looking for and trying to land another
project etc. And this was the time when I decided that this should be the
way how it should work here in Russia too. And I still think it's possible
to make it this way. I see here these "hungry for the good and well paid
work" eyes of young people and not that young people and I can say this
people here can do a lot when they treated fair way but most of them don't
believe this is possible at all without leaving this country forever because
of all what happened with this country during the last centuries and
especially during last 20 years of communism fall and the wild capitalism
"growth"...

So there are good money in IT-businesses here. In big IT-businesses and
projects. But I'm not in this camp. And I didn't try to get into it because
the game they play is rarely fair here. They are often pumping money between
bank accounts for very little work done signing fake projects. When good
work done then the money are paid not to the people who did the main work
but to all kinds of business owners, managers and consultants doing a few,
if any useful work etc. And (sometimes a big share) goes to "the left" -
these are bribes, gifts, presents to land another large project with so
little useful output and so big money paid. This is how it often happens
here...

...but with well developed and effective joint small-/midlle-size business
there and here there are good chances to enter this well paid IT-business
market here. And to start to play and work using the fair game rules only.
You may get the good profits, immensive market, the best developers here and
you'll change a little this spoiled world to the better. Isn't that a good
goal?...

...and today's small IT-software programming businesses, a few of them here,
they are just balancing on zero level because of high software piracy level
and because there is no good enough demand on custom software here because
average salaries are small and so in many jobs, which are usually automated
there in your countries it's more financially profitable to use "man power"
than a computer program  - so there is no the small custom software
programming business here, well paid business I mean (I did check that when
was trying to find a job here - I did check that in the main recruitment
agency of this city and they know the existing job market in details).  So
the business area where most of you work there and the business where I
could have worked in the case it existed here - it's just absent, it doesn't
exist here. This is why I'm working on the Add-ins for the Netherlands
company, this is why I did write a program for the Belgian Federal Road
Police, this is why I'm trying to find other projects via Internet...

I don't want to leave this country. I wanted to live here, work and travel
worldwide, live for a while there, talk to the customer/business partners
there, invite you here, talk together to the customers here etc.

I think this is possible. All costs included on my dreams above come true
and based on less than usual for the same quality work there rate if staying
mainly here. And without getting your jobs off-shore making higher your own
unemployment rate. But by opening new business opportunities for your and my
business, your and my country people. Working directly. Business to
business. Making real life everyday work....

Best regards,
Shamil

P.S. BTW, Gustav, Alexander, do you remember him?, the big payroll/HRM
software
author and a small software company owner, he is "fighting" with one
American recruitment company here (this is a huge worldwide international
with American headquarters recruitement comany), which uses his software.
They do not want to pay the fair price for this high quality software but
the chances they quit are low I think - they got hooked with this his
software, they need and so they are just trying to trade pennies from the
huge profits they are getting here (e.g. if Alcatel or Interl or Sun hire
via this company a skilled IT-professional they would have gotten for this
"head" and just this head only a little bit less than Alexander wanted to
charge them for one year support (and they sells hundreds or more of such
"heads" per year) - is that a fair business of this Amercian company?(one
should have seen the rooms they have their staff working in...) I don't
think
it's fair but as I see the unfair rules can be changed and are changing even
here when strong and wise players like Alexander are getting in this market
with real applications, which make the difference and which create the new
opportunities...

--
Web: http://smsconsulting.spb.ru/shamil_s

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gustav Brock" <Gustav at cactus.dk>
To: <dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 6:33 PM
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] OT: Friday Humor: A new petition to
supportoutdated(?)technologies...


> Hi Shamil
>
> I don't find this OT, on the contrary very relevant.
>
> It's right that software doesn't get worn out - thus, to state that
> some software has turned bad just because something new is available, is
> wrong. What matters is if it runs stable and at acceptable speed and if
> it interfaces easily if that is needed (which, by the way, in my
> experience is the typical reason for obsoleting an application).
>
> As to "off-shore development" - we just call it outsourcing here - it
> is perfectly acceptable for jobs where human interaction is not that
> important. My son in law gets zope programming done in India and I'm
> convinced we will experience much more of such cross boarder development
> - as your helper add-ins project demonstrates. Of course, if the
> development involves a lot of discussion with clients for custom
> applications, the method will not be effective - these cases demand
> physical presence.
>
> /gustav
>
>
> >>> shamil at users.mns.ru 04/29 2:01 pm >>>
> Hi All,
>
> I'm a kind of changing my profession (:)) and I'm asking for your
> opinion of
> this my first try to write a humoristic and slightly (hopefully
> slightly
> only) sarcastic text - please go here if you have time:
>
> http://smsconsulting.spb.ru/shamil_s/idlpetit.htm
>
> and have a look and send me, please, your feedback privately
>
> Any feedback is very welcome!
>
> Honestly, I'm looking for setting long-term partnerships with
> somebody.
>
> The recent my programming works are here:
>
> http://www.code-vb.com/download.htm
> (Help Generator set of Add-ins).
>
> No, I'm not trying to promote this stuff for you to purchase it - I'm
> just
> referring
> it to show what was done here recently, off-shore, without any phone
> talks,
> any business trips - just using e-mail ping-pong and in urgent cases
> MS
> Messenger chatting to send short specs and to get back developed
> software.
>
> Yes, I know, off-shore development isn't in favor there.
> Should I leave my homeland and go there to maybe have better life and
> to
> compete for the jobs with you there at your home?
> Yes, the chances to land a better job look much higher in this
> case(statistics) but I think I can do some very good stuff here, which
> I
> will not be able to do there because it will cost more because of the
> higher
> life costs and the higher taxes rates there.
> Therefore, IMO,  my off-shore development proposal is a fair business
> proposal because I'm not going "sitting here" to compete with you
> there
> using "dirt-cheap" dumping rates but I'm going to compete by proposing
> slightly lower rates, which will open opportunities, which in other
> cases
> will not be opened at all because they will be financially
> meaningless...
> So, I propose to get into longterm cooperation to assist you in your
> business and for you to assist me in my off-shore development
> freelance
> business...
>
> Thank you,
> Shamil
>
> P.S. Crossposted to Dba-OT. Will it reach it or not, I'm unsure about
> that,
> if it will reach, please, don't reply on this message there in DBA-OT,
> please, send me your feedback privately because I'm not reading DBA-OT
> these
> days....
>
> --
> Web: http://smsconsulting.spb.ru/shamil_s
>
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