On .NET and Other Things

Feb 14, 2017 github dotnet aspnet microsoft suggest edit

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of .NET’s debut to the world. And Visual Studio was first released twenty years ago! In a recent episode of On .NET, I went to the Channel 9 studios to talk a bit about the history of .NET, my work at GitHub, and challenges to .NET’s future success among other random diversions.

I hope you enjoy the interview!

On a personal note, I’ve found it hard to blog lately because every topic seems so trivial in light of what’s happening in our country. It’s easy to feel helpless and despair. If I could humbly recommend one thing that can help give you some semblance of power back, it’s to call your representatives. It’s more impactful than partaking in internet surveys, and way more useful than debating people on Facebook. I’ve been using 5calls.org to walk me through what to do. It only takes around five minutes of your time (I have a weekly appointment on my calendar).

If you want to understand why this is effective, check out www.indivisibleguide.com which talks about the motivations of your local representatives.

For my part, I will continue to RESIST. But I do think that continuing to live my life and write about topics that interest me can be part of that. So I hope to get back to writing about software and software leadership more. Stay tuned!

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Comments

25 responses

Andrei Rînea • February 14th, 2017
Oh the democracy..
Jean Michel • February 14th, 2017
Jesus effin Christ, are all bloging .NET devs going to rant about Trump? let the man do his job. He's been elected, that's how Democray works for fucks sake.
hilton • February 15th, 2017
its like how when brexit happened all the UK dev blogs just stopped producing content because of the results of their self-chosen democratic system.
Michael Manning • February 15th, 2017
Elections are one way that democracy works. Citizen participation is another important way and it is not limited to voting.
Mike Lewis • February 15th, 2017
The U.S. system of government relies on checks and balances, where each branch of the government serves to stop overreach by the others. The executive branch is meant to lead, but the will of the people is supposed to continually be enforced by the legislative branch. The judicial branch serves to make sure that the will of the people does not overrun the fundamental rights of all citizens. We live in a republic, not a dictatorship. The people are supposed to have a continuing and meaningful voice in government, not just a vote every couple of years.

So when you say to "let him do his job," I don't see anyone stopping him from doing just that. What I see are people asking their representatives in government to enforce their wishes in the governing of the realm. Now, unfortunately, we have seen a consolidation of power in the executive branch for generations, as congress has abdicated their responsibilities to the people in order to increase the power of their parties. At this point we have congressmen that exist completely in service to their party, unwilling and, truly, unable to enforce the will of the electorate where it deviates from their party goals.
Rush Frisby • February 15th, 2017
Good episode of On .NET. Looking forward to seeing what your teams are working on this year! I agree with Bertrand, you should blog more :)
irishchieftain • February 16th, 2017
I followed you for years. No more. Stick your liberal politics up your ass and out of the workplace. Fool.
Disman • February 16th, 2017
It seems #resist (including phil) people dont like democracy, obviously voting does not work for them. They just want to put in the last guy, or the last guy's friend. (oh the irony, putin and medvedev - obama and clinton)
Disman • February 16th, 2017
and *another* tech guy dabbles in political satire....
Craig Wagner • February 16th, 2017
With such a well thought out argument how could he possibly ignore your advice.
haacked • February 16th, 2017
I would think wanting to keep our country safe from foreign meddling and investigate possible corruption within an administration to be a conservative policy. It seemed to happen all the time during the past eight years. Why not the next?
Michael Manning • February 16th, 2017
Please re-read what I said. Democracy worked just fine in the election. In addition to that, it is a system that requires engaged citizens beyond voting. Just because one side won, does not mean the others shut up and sit down.

The same happened 8 years ago and the tea party movement was born. They did a great job of being vocal and using their activism to effect change by electing people who represented them and limited the President's power. They marched, went to town halls, called their representatives, and voted.
Hans Torm • February 20th, 2017
No, it is not. In a democracy the majority rules. Your president did not win the majority. He won the vote in a system not quite unlike a democracy, yet really not a democracy, so your argument fall kinda flat. I am glad to see there are many US citizens ready to fight off what is happening right now.
Hans Torm • February 20th, 2017
Again someone fail at understanding democracy. Democracy is simply majority rule. He did not win a majority of votes behind him and thus did not win a democratic election. Stop using that argument when it is not actually valid. This is the second time in recent history that the American election process has failed to produce a democratically elected leader.
You SHOULD be fighting this!
jdogg13 • February 24th, 2017
Another blog I have to unfollow...
jdogg13 • February 24th, 2017
Hillary didn't win a majority of votes either and neither did her husband (the first time).
jdogg13 • February 24th, 2017
That's McCarthyism, not conservatism.

P.S. Turn off CNN. You'll be better off for it.
Hans Torm • February 24th, 2017
*Sigh* And your point is? She still got a fair bit more than the other guy, and in either case, it does not make HIM democratically elected. Those silly diversion tactics will not change that fact, which was my whole point.
Tyler Lane • March 2nd, 2017
Lots of people in this comment section are gonna be on the wrong side of history. Thanks, Phil, for being politically active (which is what real democracy is all about!)
BJ Safdie • March 3rd, 2017
Well said, Phil. As for democracy working, it does not work when we have politically-controlled gerrymandering and voter-suppression that slants election results against the popular vote -- twice in the last 5 elections.. Trump IS our President, but that just means that we citizens must be vigilant and stand up for the checks and balances, and facts, that Trump seeks to undermine. "'So-called' judges", anyone?
Fernando Gómez • March 15th, 2017
Democracy includes the ability to protest against what one disagrees with, even if one is part of a minority (which,in this case, it ain't, given that Trump didn't won the majority vote). At any rate, pushing for people to not express their opinion, IS how a dictatorship work.
Larry • March 21st, 2017
Not a Trump fan here, but the accusations that Russia hacked the election, or even interfered with it, have not been proven. In fact, hearings today and yesterday indicate that no evidence worth note has been uncovered.
mentalmidgets • April 22nd, 2017
As we just learned from their new book the foreign meddling you speak of was fabricated within 24 hours of Hillary losing the election by.... John Podesta. If you didn't suspect this then you just are not that smart.
1elrond • April 24th, 2017
Great interview and thank you for all the time you have given the community in the past. Hopefully you will be back soon, but regardless you have done great work in the past and totally saved my bacon numerous times. Thanks again.
baracksux • May 29th, 2018
The Electoral College is the law. Seems to me your best remedy is to force your representative to introduce an amendment to abolish The Electoral College. That would benefit everyone, right? I'd vote for that!