.Net or as I lovingly refer to it as .Not 
Yes, we have these cutesy names for Windoze products, like Internet Exploder & Lookout. What surprises me to no end is that we continue to fall prey to a closed environment that has given us more headaches than we care to mention around our bosses for fear of losing our jobs.
Back when it was OK to pilfer talent, Microsoft or The Evil Empire, lured Anders Heljsberg away from Borland to work on C#. With this move it slowed down two languages with one hire, Delphi and Java. Delphi was my favorite at the time and Java was an up and comer.
Now what does this mean to those that need to put food on the table you ask?
Well, I was also in the same predicament about 15 years ago, much of my livelihood depended on Microsoft products. Today, I care not and will not support Windows machines. I actually cringe when friends or family call me with a 'My machine has gone brain dead' support call.
But that doesn't quite answer the 'I need to pay the rent and the wife wants to go to dinner and a movie every Saturday'. For me it was more of a lifestyle change, yes I make good money but it wasn't a rewarding experience. So I decided to make less, pick what I wanted to work on and bank that one day it would pay off.
To make a very long post short, my shift to Open Source has gone good for me. I get to work with Linux, help out with projects that enable me to build sites for clients and all from the comfort of my home. Maybe I should write one of those get rich slowly with a text edtor books 
To quote Ricky Nelson: 'But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck '
