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On the short list of Microsoft Watch's "Microsoft Bloggers".

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Speaking of Mary Jo Foley, last week I had a conversation with Dare Obasanjo about RSS Bandit's setup (yet another thing I need to blog about). At the end of our conversation he asked me, "Did you know you were on Mary Jo's list of bloggers to watch?" I had no idea what Dare was talking about so he opened up a browser to Microsoft Watch's Microsoft Bloggers web page. As of this posting, my name is sandwiched there between Dare and Jensen Harris.

But I don't know why.

I write about setup (and not enough of that lately), the WiX toolset (obviously), and Open Source (but from the comments I get, most people don't care about that part... so I do it because I think it's interesting). But who cares about those topics? Sure, setup developers might care about my blog (especially if I'd talk more about setup right now) but others?

So, Mary Jo, how/why did you decide to put my blog on that list? I'm really quite curious.

Also, for those of you that follow my blog regularly, I'm curious why do you stay subscribed? Feel free to leave a comment/trackback below or send it to me privately. Your feedback will shape how things continue from here.

PS: I've followed Mary Jo's reporting ever since she was the reporter that broke the WiX toolset released as Open Source story. That was an exciting time and I always felt like her report was a part of the experience. Before her story I never bothered to see who was writing the news I was reading. Also, Microsoft urban legend has it that Mary Jo Foley used to ride the shuttles around Microsoft campus listening for gossip. I was impressed. How can you not respect a reporter that is crafty enough to think of that?

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 14, 2006
    Well, I'm intrigued by the OSS aspect of it, really.  However, we also use WiX (in an ant script to create an MSI for a NetBeans RCP java desktop app!)
  • Anonymous
    February 14, 2006
    Rob,

    I follow your blog for all three reasons you blog.  Though I would rank my interest in your topics in the opposite order you list them.  As I'm an interested observer of Open Source/Free Software (I think everyone is best served by healthy competion, but that's not my only reason), I try to gather opinions from many different perspectives on the topic.  I won't say I've agreed with all your thoughts, but it was interesting to read them regardless.

    I am following WiX because I think it serves as good competion to the "professional" installation packages.  Ultimately, the best solution should win, but a community-driven project to help create Windows installations is of great benefit to small scale development teams.

    I'm interested in setup as it relates to the continued development of WiX, but not so much as a stand-alone topic.

    Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community.  In my opinion, your past posts are reason enough for Mary Jo to include you in the list of Microsoft bloggers.  I hope you continue to provide valuable insight through your blog.
  • Anonymous
    February 14, 2006
    I read this blog mainly to leran more about MSI and Windows Installer.

    Especially history, rationale and how to deal with MSI files is interessting.
  • Anonymous
    February 14, 2006
    I stay subscribed (through bloglines) as I'm a corporate application repackager (Installshield/Wise MSI stuff) so your comments on Installers directly relates to my job.

    That and you don't waffle on about pointless stuff :)
  • Anonymous
    February 15, 2006
    I'm following your blog, because I use WiX for my installers and your blogs contain useful hints and insights into WiX and MSI in general. And I like your writing style.
  • Anonymous
    February 15, 2006
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    February 16, 2006
    Jonathan, I totally agree with some of the things you say. I think Windows Installer has a very steep learning curve and I'm still amazed at the fact that almost every MSI I run into, even the official Microsoft ones, doesn't pass ICE validation or has other implementation errors. Rob, I would be very interested in your opinion about these matters!
  • Anonymous
    February 17, 2006
    I read your blog because i don't ride the shuttles around Redmond.