Mono Applications Use Unsafe, Tainted Namespaces
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 13th Dec 2010 19:27 UTC, submitted by lemur2
Mono Project For the most time, I've been firmly in the largest camp when it comes to the Mono debate - the 'I don't care'-camp. With patent lawsuits being hotter than Lady Gaga right now, that changed. For good reason, so it seems; while firmly in the 'ZOMG-MICROSOFT-IS-T3H-EVILL!1!!ONE!'-camp, The-Source.com investigated the five most popular Mono applications, and the conclusion is clear: all of them implement a lot of namespaces which are not covered by Microsoft's community promise thing.
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RE: Comment by kittynipples
by Delgarde on Mon 13th Dec 2010 20:03 UTC in reply to "Comment by kittynipples"
Delgarde
Member since:
2008-08-19

Paranoid much?

What does the namespace have to do with the question of whether or not some implementation infringes on a patent; or are we saying that class names can be patented now?


Agreed - all this means is that those applications rely on an API that falls outside of Microsoft's assurances around patent infringement. Which isn't all that surprising, since stuff like media and UI isn't part of the core language/VM specification.

What it *doesn't* mean is that the Mono implementation of that API is infringing on patents - only that any infringements that do exist aren't protected by the assurances around the ECMA stuff.

Reply Parent Score: 5

RE[2]: Comment by kittynipples
by f0dder on Mon 13th Dec 2010 20:20 in reply to "RE: Comment by kittynipples"
f0dder Member since:
2009-08-05

What it *doesn't* mean is that the Mono implementation of that API is infringing on patents - only that any infringements that do exist aren't protected by the assurances around the ECMA stuff.

Considering the state of affairs, isn't that bad enough though? :/

I'm not paranoid enough to be part of the "zomg it's only a matter of time!1!1! MS are teh ultimate ev0l!" camp, but I wouldn't entirely dismiss the possibility of them shutting down mono or other projects if it suddenly makes sense from a business perspective.

I wish MS would extend the list of assemblies included and make an even stronger guarantee, just to shut up the anti-crowd... C# is a darn fine language in and by itself, but without larger parts of the .NET libraries covered some of the incentive for using it is lost.

Reply Parent Score: 4

nt_jerkface Member since:
2009-08-26

but I wouldn't entirely dismiss the possibility of them shutting down mono or other projects if it suddenly makes sense from a business perspective.


There really isn't a good business case though. Who would they sue? There isn't a Linux company worth suing that would cover the cost of the lawsuit. I really doubt MS cares and is more concerned with Apple when it comes to desktop competition.

Reply Parent Score: 3

Delgarde Member since:
2008-08-19

Considering the state of affairs, isn't that bad enough though? :/


Yeah, but it's not really a reason to complain about Mono specifically. Any piece of software could potentially be infringing any number of patents, and I don't believe there's any greater risk from Mono implementing some of these APIs than if they created entirely new ones.

Reply Parent Score: 4

RE[3]: Comment by kittynipples
by Kasi on Tue 14th Dec 2010 04:03 in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by kittynipples"
Kasi Member since:
2008-07-12

... there's just something about using the Lyran Commonwealth House Steiner as a icon that just hurts believability.

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[2]: Comment by kittynipples
by alanmc on Tue 14th Dec 2010 15:38 in reply to "RE: Comment by kittynipples"
alanmc Member since:
2010-12-14


Agreed - all this means is that those applications rely on an API that falls outside of Microsoft's assurances around patent infringement.

I'll bite. No it doesn't. All it actually means is that the text "using System.Linq" has appeared in the source file. It's entirely possible that nothing in that particular code file actually uses any member from that namespace. Useless 'using' statements tend to crop up a lot because there are no ill effects from having them and it is a pain in the ass to remove them without using some kind of automated tool. Who wants to wander through hundreds of code files removing using statements one after another and checking to see if the build fails?

Reply Parent Score: 2