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Microsoft Applies For .NET Patent
Wojina writes "Microsoft has applied for a comprehensive patent on what appears to be the entire implementation of the .NET CLR (Common Language Runtime) and the framework APIs. Microsoft's CLR is an implementation of the CLI (submitted to ECMA for standardization). Does this bode ill for the Mono project? See the CNET News story." And a chaser: Nept points to this interesting Microsoft-funded .NET obfuscation project.
"As much as I hate the site, it does provide a lot of information that is difficult to get elsewhere."
Dude, there are loads of places these days that do gay incest stories.
graspee
Does this mean the BSA Gestapo will now look for patent violations on your web server?
Besides, MS has little to no history of suing for patent infringement. Just because they're filing for patents, doesn't mean they're automaticly going after mono. In this day and age tech companies are using patents as a way to keep score. "See, we're making major technological breakthroughs. We recieved X thousand patents last year." This would be an example of good publicity.
This reminds of the steadily migrating arguments I hear from the anti-war crowd. First, "Saddam doesn't have WMD!" Then, "Well, he only has a few empty chemical shells." Then, "Well, he has large numbers of unaccounted-for WMD, but we know he won't use them because that would be irrational. He just needs them to avoid appearing weak in the eyes of his own people."
Where do the excuses stop? Mightn't it be that appeasement and cooperation with notorious bullies is just a bad idea, period? That the Mono project, having enslaved itself to Microsoft's whims, was doomed from the start?
Suing the Mono project when they're submitting .Net to the EMCA, etc. would be bad publicity. It would definitely make people reconsider developing for .Net.
"Okay, so Saddam has a whole shitload of WMD, but he'll never use them against us because it would make his supporters reconsider."
Suing the Mono project would indeed be bad publicity for Microsoft, but not enough to make "people" reconsider. Where have you been for the past five years? Microsoft been hit by LOADS of bad publicity (antitrust, security, OpenSourceIsCancer, security, SabotagingJava, security, MyServicesBigBrother, exploitative licensing changes, security), but I don't see a massive exodus of home users, corporate managers, or developers from their products. .NET lockin would be met with the same complacency.
Sure, all 3000 Open Source-.NET developers would reconsider, but what about the 150000000 commercial MS .NET developers? The vast majority of them wouldn't even know what "Mono" is; if they found out, they wouldn't give a shit ("I just want to put bread on my table"). Certainly they wouldn't abandon the .NET platform because Microsoft reamed yet another competitor by less-than-honest means.
Sir, I think you and Miguel de Icaza are profoundly naive.