Thursday, April 14, 2016

Call for a Microsoft PowerShell Czar

This is an open plea to Microsoft for the creation of the internal position of PowerShell Czar.

There is a PowerShell UserVoice suggestion to open source the AD module that is quickly accumulating votes. https://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/301869-powershell/suggestions/13350033-open-source-the-activedirectory-powershell-module

This is not users requesting a feature or a fix. This is exasperated users giving up hope that Microsoft will make basic improvements to the product.

There are too many teams at Microsoft that years ago came out with a reasonable (for the time) first version of the PowerShell module for their product, but have never followed up with v2. When they release a new version of their product, they make some minor changes to the PowerShell module that are related to new features in the core product. But they don’t understand that the PowerShell module is an integral part of their product, deserving of and requiring the same continuous improvement as the rest of their product, and it never matures past the level of barely good enough for a first release.

It has been ten years now, and too many teams at Microsoft have demonstrated that left to their own devices, they are not willing or able to produce the quality of PowerShell integration that we need.

Microsoft needs to create a PowerShell Czar. They can, of course, replace that silly title with one of the standard Microsoft silly titles, but the role would be the same.

The Czar would have the power to write and enforce PowerShell standards across the organization. The Czar would prevent releases from releasing if the PowerShell isn’t ready. The Czar would require teams to fill gaps in the PowerShell interface. The Czar would prevent desktop teams from locking in a pre-release version of PowerShell. The Czar would prevent teams from using non-standard parameter names and cmdlet names that are so long they wrap around the screen. The Czar would require implementations that are intuitive to PowerShell scripters, rather than to product architects. The Czar would require all MSDN articles about .Net objects to have PowerShell examples. The Czar would require MSDN articles about PowerShell .Net object be as complete as articles about other .Net objects. The Czar would require fixes to .Net objects that break PowerShell functionality that depends on them.

If Microsoft has another, less authoritarian way of accomplishing the same goals, fine, do it that way. But the current way is not working. This needs to be fixed. Microsoft, please make it happen.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Tim, Chris here. I've made it my personal mission to resolve these issues with the Active Directory. In fact, I created that suggestion on User Voice at the request of Ken Hansen. Erin Chapple has put me in touch with the Active Directory Product Group Manager who is having me work with two members from that group to try to devise a mutually beneficial solution. Thank you for your effort to help this critical issue gain greater visibility in the PowerShell community.

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  2. YES!!!!!!!!
    The Czar would require implementations that are intuitive to PowerShell scripters, rather than to product architects. The Czar would require all MSDN articles about .Net objects to have PowerShell examples.

    ReplyDelete