[johnny35]

People can talk about it whenever they want, I'm only speaking in support of the very narrow point that it is unprofessional. People reading the post will use its contents to form (or modify) their opinions of the author, and I believe it will generally be in the negative direction. Publishing something that has a net-negative impact on your professional reputation strikes me as unprofessional in a very basic way.

Can he do it? Sure. Should he? Maybe, depends on his values. Hopefully he understood how the message would be received and is OK with the possible consequences, and valued self-expression and making an authoritative critique of MySQL more highly than the negative impacts of rubbing a few readers the wrong way as they perceive a breach of generally accepted professional decorum.

[kbenson]

It's definitely unprofessional to talk about it while working there. If it's also unprofessional to talk about it after no longer working there, that means it's unprofessional to ever voice your own opinion of your own work experience at a company, and that's ludicrous.

I'm responsible for vetting possible hires to work under me. What this person did falls well within what I would accept as responsible behavior for someone I was considering hiring. The fact that they note they went out of their way to avoid conferences where they would likely be forced to compromise their morals in some way, either through going against the wished of their employer or being untruthful, speaks very well of their character, if it's to be believed as presented. People that have no problem lying for the company, or badmouthing the company to external people while they work there, are both types of people I would desperately try to avoid.

[handrous]

I think there's "professionalism" as in "behavior that signals to employers that you're safe to hire because you are a good little drone" and then there's "professionalism" as in "does good work and treats people right".

I don't think there's a reason to push the former, as it's got plenty of natural support from the unequal relationship between employers and employees. We may not be able to throw off the shackles entirely, but let's not shame those who rattle them a bit, you know?

[quantified]

Thank you, this thread really hinges on what basket of behaviors and ethics are considered “professional” in the first place.

[vanusa]

People can talk about it whenever they want, I'm only speaking in support of the very narrow point that it is unprofessional.

Stop mincing words, please.

If it's deemed "unprofessional" to talk about it, then to all intents and purposes -- "if he knows what's good for him" as the saying goes -- he can't.