RMS Asks Miguel to Explain Himself

phaze3000 writes "RMS, responding to questions from the audience at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil last week, has asked Miguel de Icaza to explain himself to the Free software community about comments made last week that Gnome should be based on .NET in the future. More details at Brazillian site Hotbits and in The Register." I find this amusing.

Comments

Re:RMS needs to be hit with a cluebat

[OSgod]

So the question is -- who owns the project? RMS who contributes nothing or Miguel who manages it?

Re:RMS needs to be hit with a cluebat

[Jeremi]

Okay, for the sake of the arguement, suppose that .NET's architecture is the technically the best way for Gnome to go. There is still the 'poison pill' issue to think about. Will using Microsoft's technology this way give Microsoft any kind of legal, technical, or competitive power of the Gnome project? Will it allow Microsoft to shut down the Gnome project or marginalize/cripple Gnome in some other sneaky way if they decide Gnome is a problem for them?

Keep in mind that Microsoft has unheard-of amounts of money and lawyers to throw at the problem, and that they have demonstrated time and again that they have no scruples about doing whatever it takes to eliminate their competition.

If I was Miguel, I would tread very, very carefully when considering the adoption of Microsoft's "Open" APIs...

Focus

[The Asmodeus]

Is it just me or does the whole Gnome project seem to be loosing focus?

I have been a loyal Gnome user but KDE is leaving it in the dust as far as development goes right now. And NOW I know why...

The solution is simple

[tuxlove]

If Miguel insists on using .NET for Gnome in the future, then it's time to branch development for Gnome. All the Gnome developers with some sanity will undoubtedly go for the non-.NET Gnome. I.e. 99% of them.

I'm sure that 99% applies to Gnome users as well.

You tell 'im, RMS!

[dave-fu]

I mean, how dare the guy develop useful open-source products and tools using a modern, cohesive framework that's en route to becoming an ECMA standard? All open-source programmers should stick to cryptic/buggy libraries or stop making open source projects. Because just because you're open source doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, right?
Microsoft, after all, was the one who designed their own implementation of this framework and they're a big monopoly that makes products that people want and use so no one in the open source world should work with them.
Also, Bill Gates has a nose so Miguel should cut his off right now to spite him. That'll show 'em all!

Good for GNOME.

[Wizy]

You might think this a troll. But, I truely cant stand gnome. I dont like it. I am a KDE fan. I'm happy to see him making it an easier choice for my friends.

Gnome sucks, has sucked, and will always suck.

How well does .NET pay?

[seebs]

What I want to know is how much it pays to claim that .NET is a good technology. I mean, is this something where I could get a second house paid for by embracing MS? We know they have more money than design experience.

I don't really think that Miguel is being paid... but then, if someone offered evidence, I wouldn't be surprised.

Mono

[Majix]

Read Miguel's clarification of what he meant by GNOME taking advantage of Mono.

Mono has a lot of technical merit, don't shoot it down only because it's based on .net. It just might deliver what CORBA only promised, language independent component reuse. I know I wouldn't mind mixing for example Kylix generated GUI frontends with Java/C# running the logic in the background, transparently (and natively!). I surely hope that by the time we reach GNOME 4 (and we're talking 2-4 years from now here) we're not still writing GUI applications in C, as is the state with most GNOME apps now.

Remeber that Mono isn't .net, it's not controlled by Microsoft, it's a reimplementation of the .net class libraries while also bringing in a C# compiler as a bonus (Believe me, there are plenty of worse languages to code in). The Mono libraries are Open Source (Same license as Xfree86, and I don't hear anyone bitching about the license of that particular piece of software) and will probably help bring a lot of new neat Open Source applications, giving especially GUI programs a boost.

Re:RMS needs to be hit with a cluebat

[drsoran]

I agree. I can't comprehend how we got along without .NET before. My life has been much more fulfilled and vibrant since it has been announced. I still have no idea what .NET is but I'm sure it will be yet another slam dunk for Microsoft's innovation team. I hope .NET is something really cool that will completely innovate the hell out of the computer industry because it's been so stagnant and lacking buzzwords lately.

Miguel == Microsoft Lackey?

[Karma Sucks]

Why else would Miguel start telling us that CLI means Microsoft's Common Language Interface, when we've known for years that CLI means Command Line Interface?

Biggest proof for me that Miguel has sold out, when not only is he selling Microsoft technology to us, he's also selling Microsoft MARKETING to us. Nobody but Microsoft is so good at redefining the tech lingo. (of course there's RMS and "free software" but let's not get into that...)

Moderation is a weak argument...

[seebs]

It's a bit of a joke, perhaps, but a troll? So, everyone's quite comfortable with a leader in the free software community endorsing a closed and proprietary system developed by Microsoft?

Fascinating. There's no such thing as a thought Slashdot's reader community disagrees with; it's either agreeable, or a troll.

Re:Why must Miguel explain himself to RMS?

[maggard]

Its Miguel's company, and in the free market he's free to make whatever strategic decisions he likes.

Ximian is Miguel's company - Gnome is not.

If RMS doesn't like it, he can either make an equity investment in Ximian, or he can shut his cake hole.

1. One need not have an investment to comment or have an opinion on a subject.
2. The "G" in Gnome stands for GNU, which RMS very much does have a legitimate interest in.

This man is becoming increasingly irritating, a modern day Rasputin (in looks as well as deeds).

I'm sorry - when did a dresscode get implimented? Please submit an 8x10 glossy of yourself for us to comment upon before you make another such clueless posting.

Re:Improving usablility

[McFly777]

...I applaud Miguel's willingness to embrace the technologies he feels are best, regardless of the political fallout

OK, but wasn't Gnome the result of the fact that KDE was using a "less-than-free" library from Troll-Tech. Isn't Gnome doing one step worse if it embraces a proprietary Microsoft psudo-standard like .NET?

Seems a little hypocritical to me.