Microsoft recruiter pitches open-source guru

A Microsoft recruiter tried to lure open-source guru Eric Raymond to the company, but to nobody's surprise didn't get too far. Raymond guessed his name had been passed to the recruiter as a joke.

Raymond, a founder of the Open Source Initiative, publisher of the "Halloween" documents and Microsoft critic, told of the offer on his blog on Thursday.

"Your name and contact info was brought to my attention as someone who could potentially be a contributor at Microsoft," the letter to Raymond said. "Microsoft is seeking world-class engineers to help create products that help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential."

Raymond's response: "On the day *I* go to work for Microsoft, faint oinking sounds will be heard from far overhead, the moon will not merely turn blue but develop polkadots, and hell will freeze over so solid the brimstone will go superconductive."