One of the things that I look for in a developer is openness.  When a new technology is released, I like to see an instant "hmm, this could work" thought process, rather than a "it'll never take off" attitude.  Same for a new way to approach an existing solution.  An openness to change is an acknowledgement that things can be improved.  An openness to new technology reflects a belief that it could solve some problems that existing technologies have, or it could provide some opportunities that existing technologies don't.  The immediate negative response reflects to me a closed mind.  My current openness test is Silverlight.  (It used to be Ruby)

"What do you think of Silverlight?" is my current test question.

It's surprising the number of people who dismiss this entirely - because it's from Microsoft!  I usually follow up with "What does it do?" It replaces Flash. Oh.  Ok.  So you have a deep knowledge then to make that judgement?  What's scary is that often they don't even realise the bigotry that is occurring, and worse, peers look up to some of these people as mentors and guides.

So why does this bug me?  Because I'm responsible for ensuring a high quality technology solution.  One that meets the customers needs, one that meets my company's needs, and one that can be delivered as rapidly as possible.  In order to make a decision, I want people around me who can make educated choices on a way forward, not a choice based on software house bigotry, or the "not invented here" syndrome, or even worse, the "that's the way we've always done it" excuse.  The negative response to an alternative immediately predisposes that individual away from the alternative - even when it could be the "perfect" solution to the problem.

But how do you deal with this?  One way that I've found useful is to actually highlight the issue up front.  "So you won't even consider this option because it's open source?" Another technique is to confront them with their own lack of knowledge - "So why specifically won't it work?".  My third favourite technique is to paraphrase...  "So, using Sourcesafe is the only option because that's all our developers are able to learn?"  Unfortunately, all these questions are negatively stated - perhaps that's my personal reaction to the negativity around me in these situations.  I'm open for alternatives...

So... what do you think of Silverlight?

... and why?