The Mono discussion may be tiring, but the fact of the matter is that thanks to this discussion, various major Linux distributions are now making official statements detailing their position in the Mono/C# debate. The latest to do this is Ubuntu, which reiterated their position yesterday.
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Member since:2006-02-26
There are two issues that ease the patent threat in my mind:
1) Mono is backed by the OIN. Which effectively means that any assault on Mono has the possibility of unleashing patent Armageddon, and:
2) The legal doctrine of estoppel. From my (admittedly limited, IANAL) legal point of view, Microsoft has made many moves supporting the development of alternate .NET platforms (releasing a shared source CLR, standardizing C#, supporting development of Moonlight with documentation and codecs), and has made none to directly discourage the development of Mono. Given this, it seems that estoppel would be a viable defense to any patent assertions against Mono. I'd be interested in a lawyer's opinion on this.
Overall, I think the bickering over Mono is more damaging to the community than anything Microsoft could possibly do. I said the same thing amidst all the ruckus after the Microsoft/Novell deal was signed.
Basically, I can't see any reason why Microsoft would want to attack Mono. Patent litigation is expensive, and in this case, risky. Keeping your mouth shut and letting the FOSS community rip itself apart is cheap and easy.
Carry on.
Member since:2005-07-24
They stood by and did nothing when TomTom was being attacked. Sure, they're good at rattling their sabres when there is no actual battle going on... "We stand ready to leverage our patent portfolio, blah, blah, blah". But when TomTom was under seige, OIN hid in the closet.
Edited 2009-07-01 21:58 UTC
Member since:2006-04-22
I think one could take your point about the damage of bickering in one of two ways:
1. To people rejecting mono: Just accept mono because fighting over it is tearing gnome apart
2. To people who love mono: Just let mono go because fighting over it is tearing gnome apart.
I agree that it isn't worth it however given that:
a)mono/c# is not yet in gnome core and is being used in very few apps
b)there are alternatives to mono (java/python/c++/ruby)
c)mono is acknowledged to be more at risk than these other options
I think taking your point about the damage of infighting as a call for mono backers to stand down makes the most sense.
So, all you mono lovers, just let mono go because fighting over it is tearing gnome apart (and the other reasons listed above)
Edited 2009-07-01 22:06 UTC
Member since:2006-04-22
It seems like there are generally two classes of posters regarding this mono discussion:
1. People posting reasoned analysis and thoughtful comments (or at least respectfully trying to). These people tend to agree that Mono should not part of the core of gnome or any distro because of potential licensing issues yet acknowledge that Mono may be good from a technical point of view.
2. People just name calling and trolling. These people think installing Mono is just fine or think mono is fantastic. They tend to point out that all people against mono are just irrational haters (without providing rebuttals in any form) although I've yet to see many people arguing against the inclusion of mono who fit that description. The irony would be sweet if it weren't so annoying.
Edited 2009-07-01 22:08 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:
2009-07-01
That's all the anti-mono crowd is, witch hunters. If it was some other company other than Microsoft this would be a non-existent issue. I mean seriously, they might as well attack AJAX. C# is a solid language based on open standards, and its here to stay. Mono has a lot of potential. Keep up the good work Ubuntu and Debian.
Also, Mono's implementation of .net I feel would be a litigation nightmare for Microsoft if they wanted to test the patent waters. Its not like HashTables, ArrayLists or pretty much everything else in the .net framework is new. WinForms might be one area, but they already have a GTK counter-part.
Might as well have Sun/Oracle sue Microsoft since C# is a virtual rip-off of Java. MS has NO legal recourse and they know it. In the mean time they are getting Linux developers to write applications for their platform!