Friday, October 5, 2007

altnetconf - Alt.Net First Impressions

I'm not sure how much I will find myself around the computer this weekend, but I thought I would post my impressions of the ALT.Net conference as we go along. The comments during the opening remarks and fishbowl seemed to center around a few core concepts:


  • Though perceptions might be otherwise, nobody expressed total contempt or hatred of Microsoft.

  • Everyone wants to write better software.

  • Writing better software probably means using tools that weren't developed in Redmond.

  • The overriding of "better software" seems to be maintainability.

  • Drag-and-drop is still the whipping boy of this crowd.

  • Alt.Net IS alternative because most .Net developers seem to use whatever tools Microsoft puts out (and MSDN talks about). Conference attendees are much more likely to use tools that are alternatives to simply the set put out by Microsoft.


I'm looking forward to hearing more opinions and thoughts as we go along. I'm not sure how much will be decided. Many seem to want to come to a consensus, but everyone in attendance is so passionate that it may not happen. We'll see. At least we're trying to figure out what is going on and how we can deliver better software for all involved.

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