There may be a reading of 'anything I want' that the poster intended. I don't get micromanaged much. I do 'anything I want' as long as the end results are the results that my feature team is driving for. No one particularly cares what tools I use or what approach I use as long as it's going to get the job done.

The rest, I agree with you (JamieEi) about. People seem aware of the competition, but typically discussions are about how we can provide a better experience.

As for the username, I was developing on linux before I came to MS. Presumably the poster was a big linux fan before being hired at MS.