[Pdx-pm] OT? Java .Net C# unhyped info?

[Eric Wilhelm]

Some might say this is off-topic.  I'm trying to find honest 
introductory information about these overly hyped technologies that 
isn't on a Sun/MS billboard or in the context of "why these are 
stupid."

Maybe my question is whether they are worth learning or how much is 
important to know.  I've seen a hacker or two say that the buffoon will 
shoot himself in the foot anyway, and have been turned-off by the 
buzzwords that are sprinkled throughout the introductory material on 
the other side.  So, it occurred to me that I may have never read any 
info that wasn't either hyping or dumping-on.

Any references or thoughts from impartial observers?  (not that I expect 
a lot of them to be hanging out here, more a "surely you've heard of 
one or two" question.)

Thanks,
Eric
-- 
Don't worry about what anybody else is going to do. The best way to
predict the future is to invent it.
--Alan Kay
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