Last week, I sent out the following announcement to my colleagues at IBM:
"After 7 years and 6 solid Eclipse releases, the time has come for me to leave IBM to pursue other opportunities.
My last day at the Toronto Lab is Friday August 17....
I leave IBM happy for the time I spent here, grateful for all the opportunities I have been given, and proud to be associated with such talented friends and colleagues.
Thank you for being part of it all.
Wassim Melhem."
PDE All Grown Up
I have been working on PDE since the Eclipse 2.0 release, and became the component lead at the beginning of the RCP movement, early in the Eclipse 3.0 cycle.Year after year, the PDE New and Noteworthy feature list has been long and distinguished (3.0 - link to the N&N list no longer found on eclipse.org, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3), and PDE has come a long way in term of stability and performance.
PDE gets a lot of positive press and we are always thankful and flattered when that happens. To me, the most memorable one came in a blog entry entiled "PDE All Grown Up" a couple of years ago. It is my favorite because it is not over the top, it uses a great metaphor comparing PDE's growth to that of a rambunctious teenager, and it chronicles how we won over the heart and mind of a plug-in developer.
Given PDE's "No Developer Left Behind" policy, we always do all we can to accommodate and please every developer. Note that our effort should not be confused with the similarly-named, yet failed, "No Child Left Behind" program ;)
A Gang of Four
At IBM and particularly working on Eclipse, I got to work with some of the best people. For my farewell tour this week, I went to Texas for a few days to spend quality time with the Austin chapter of the Equinox and PDE teams.
With a traditional leafy backdrop, this is a picture of me with three of Eclipse's finest. From left to right: Thomas J. Watson (not to be confused with the other Thomas J. Watson), Chris Aniszczyk, unshaven/overdressed man, new father Brian Bauman.
Chapter Two
On Monday, I start my new job working as a program manager at an Eclipse add-in provider member company, where I will be leading a new commercial Eclipse-based product.
I plan to continue blogging, but with some emphasis on the challenges that I will be facing in my new role. If that gets boring, I could always go back to questioning the authority. That's always fun :)
As for my involvement with PDE, I will remain a committer, but largely in an advisory role. Time permitting, I plan to code from time to time. I will also be attending selected conferences in the next year, with OS Summit Asia being the next likely event.
Onward and Upward
Thank you for choosing PDE. Your productivity is our top priority.
13 comments:
Wassim,
Thanks for all your great contributions to PDE and Eclipse in general. PDE has certainly come to represent the best of Eclipse.
Although I'm said to see you go it's good to know you're not going that far in that you'll be working on an Eclipse based product.
Lawrence
Good luck Wassim!
I guess this is a natural evolution of companies wanting to ship RCP-based products and signs of the ecosystem maturing. There's a lot of great Eclipse talent out there!
They should be honored to have you!
Good Luck Wassim! I thought you were gonna work for netbeans :p jk
The new company your going to work for grabbed a hardworking person. They are lucky to have you :)
Now, pfft, here goes my future job at IBM :~ You should have let me have your job before you left :)
Good luck on your new job!
You will be missed at PDE. Reality-show discussion at lunch will be at an all-time low.
You and I only worked together for 3.5 months, but it was an awesome and productive 3.5 months. I couldn't have asked for a better team lead.
Good luck, and all the best.
PDE is an excellent show! Good luck for your future challenges
All the best on your new gig Wassim!
On the other hand, how could you possible leave before fixing the most painful PDE feature? Shame on you for that! :-)
You're still going to EclipseCon, right? You'll still do some Eclipse events, right? Say it's so...
Good luck with your new job, Wassim! If you're ever downtown, let's get a beer or something.
Your technical expertise and hard work will be greatly missed.
Personally, what I really appreciated was your standard of polite and respectful interchange that you (ahem) encouraged others to follow. That, and your good humored nature. I hope to see your continued involvement in the community.
Wassim,
You have not only played a pivotal role in securing my new-found home in PDE, but have been a wonderful leader during the early months of my time in Eclipse development. It's been an honour to work with you as a professional and to get to know you on a personal level as well.
I hope your new employer appreciates you as much as I do and as much as I know everyone at IBM does.
You will be dearly missed.
Adam
Wassim joined us when I took over the helm of the Toronto Eclipse team (PDE, Update, User Assistance, UI Forms). Since he was already recommended by another manager, the interview lasted 10 minutes and concluded with 'well, you seem like a resonable fit - welcome onboard' (which sounded like we just determined that 1) he was human and 2) he had a pulse.
In the five years that ensued, he turned out the best 'reasonable fit' hire in history. I am happy to see him move on and grow, but I am sad to see a Wassim-shaped hole he left in the team.
Godspeed, Wassim, in your new adventures!
P.S. Since you will be using Eclipse and PDE in the new job, we will occasionally insert a bug just for kicks :-). Oh, Oh - we can make the bug appear only when (plugin provider == your new employer) :-).
Wassim, you can be proud of what you achieved at Eclipse. I hope to see you again at EclipseCon! I'm sure not only the waiters would miss you. ;)
Wish you all the best. I've always enjoyed reading your eclipse blogs, and hope you continue to do so.
It's great to know that you'll still be working with eclipse, alebit in a different role.
- The guy who compiles eclipse on gentoo ;)
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