I’ve been holding off on blogging about Team System because I’ve been trying to avoid it.  The new pricing, structure, role-based subscriptions…it’s all just befuddling to me.  It makes me think that Microsoft has no idea who their core customers are, or maybe that I don’t.

Take a look at this blog entry from Larry.  The picture says it all.  I just absolutely do not understand the point of the role based system.  I have a two man dev team.  I’m the architect.  I’m also a developer.  I also test.  I also do support.  So, in a normal scenario, I would buy the highest level thing (currently MSDN Universal) so that I had all the tools.  According to the new way…I need Architect, since I’m the Architect…but that means I don’t get unit testing, code coverage, load testing. No code analyzer.  No profiler.  Like I don’t need that stuff?  Now if I said to my boss that I needed all three versions…he’d have them ordered.  But that’s completely stupid and I refuse to do it.

Enter NTeam.  Jason Bentley has kicked off an open-source, community project, with the simple goal of functioning as a VSTS replacement for guys like me.  It’s generated a lot of buzz, including an eWeek article.  And today I joined up.

I’ve been preaching a lot lately, both here and to people in person, about getting out there and improving your skills, doing something beyond what you’re doing 9–5.  And really, I just think all of that has been a void in my professional life.  This project is a chance to do something for the community, to make an impact, to work with some really talented developers, to improve my skills, and to expand my horizons.  Plus it’s hella cool.

Stay tuned for updates.  Check out the project page.  Help out if you can commit the time.