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C#, CLI Accepted by ECMA

Posted by michael on from the moving-target dept.

SlipJig writes "Apparently ECMA has approved standardization of both C# (Microsoft's new programming language) and the CLI (Common Language Infrastructure). While I'm sure this won't entice the die-hard anti-MS folks, I suppose it's a good thing. Here's the article on CNet."

5 of 29 comments (clear)

  1. What good is it? by wrinkledshirt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But Microsoft will retain control over who gets to license the technology and how it will be distributed, a company spokesman said.

    This alone makes it seem pretty useless to me.

    What good is creating just any old C# compiler? The point would be to get the compiler to output code that could run on the .NET framework, and it's not like MS is going to be forthcoming with the information to make that possible.

    --

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    Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...

  2. Interesting to see where this goes... by fm6 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Microsoft's big problem is that they don't play well with others. Hence the IBM divorce. Hence their limited (nonexistent?) role in the development of an XSL standard, despite their domination of early XSL efforts and their ongoing efforts to create new XSL software. Hence their ongoing feud with Sun, which had more to do with technical quibbles about AWT and native methods than any conspiracy to "poison" Java.

    People often see a dark agenda in MS's actions. And sometimes that's actually true. But I think they play Cousin Dudley more often than Voldemort.

    With .NET, MS has really conflicting goals. On the one hand, they need something to compete with Java, and will insulate apps from the convoluted NT API. But that means something very similar to Java, a software platform that's hardware agnostic. And that means cooperating with other companies, something they just don't like to do. Not a formula for success.

  3. 5th post!!! Wait... This was posted 5 hours ago. by JohnDenver · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think the number of comments speaks for itself in regards to how big of a ripple this had on everybody perception of an impact.

    The question is now: Other than Miquel D'Icaza, is there anybody out there who's going to try to leverage this in someway or another?

    Better question: To what extent can Microsoft retrict competition with .NET? Are there key patents on key technologies in .NET, or is it another scenerio entirely?

    --
    "Communism is like having one [local] phone company " - Lenny Bruce
  4. No posts? by fm6 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Is this one of those topic-only articles that most Slashdotters never see? Hard to tell without fiddling with your options, and I can't be bothered.

    In any case, don't assume that .NET is a non-starter, just because all the techies you know are yawning. Microsoft projects develop a following because they're from Microsoft. Not fair -- just the way it is.

    Yes, I do remember Microsoft Bob. Not the same. .NET isn't coming out of nowhere. It's Microsoft's answer to Java. Which hasn't lived up to the early hype either, but has found a certain acceptance.

  5. Microsoft protects C#, Sun can't protect Java? by EMIce · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "Microsoft is working on its own version of .Net building blocks for the FreeBSD version of Unix with help from Corel. But that version of .Net for FreeBSD will be released under a "shared source" license that lets researchers see and modify underlying source code but not use it in commercial projects.
    ...
    More than two years ago, Sun said it would turn Java over to the same standards body, but withdrew its proposal on fears that it would lose control of Java's evolution. Java proponents argued that making Java an industry standard would give other companies a much stronger position in defining Java and determining the direction of the software. But Sun executives implied that standardizing through ECMA could result in a version of Java that worked differently from Sun's. "


    What's wrong with this picture? How come Sun couldn't come up with similar licensing to control Java? I bet Microsoft sure as hell will maintain control over C#. What does ECMA approval mean, do they take over administering rules for the standard? Sun sure made it sound that way when they didn't submit Java.

    And what is this new "shared source" licensing? Microsoft asking for free pseudo-open source programming services? Wasn't open source founded on the principle of protecting authors of free software from this very kind of commercial exploitation? This is too ironic.