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Mono Beta 2 Released
A little birdy writes "Less than a month after Beta 1 was released,
Mono Beta 2 has been released. See the Release Notes, or go directly to the download page. It includes a C# compiler, an implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure and two stacks of APIs: a Unix, Linux, GNOME, Mono stack for APIs that takes the most advantage of your Unix server and desktop and a set of APIs compatible with the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 that provides support for ASP.NET (web services and web forms), ADO.NET and many other components." And in a related story: darthcamaro writes "The drive to develop a FOSS implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework by DotGNU and Novell's Mono project is being painted as a contest between the Free and Open Source communities in an article on internetnews.com. The article details the running argument between DotGNU's Norbert Bollow and Mono's Miguel de Icaza on the issues of commercial involvement, software patents and all the 'religious' stuff that the Free software community holds against the open source community."
Why don't you mention what false news, instead of just making accusations?
This seems like a legitimate set of concerns, but I think the ability of Microsoft to change the game at this point is severely limited.
.NET is because of the existance of legacy apps. The company I work for has thousands of man-hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars into our ASP.NET applications. Microsoft can't break these applications. The .NET API has to remain consistant or they'll lose that legacy application support and lose customers. The fastest way to piss off an IT department is to make a change that breaks their apps. Believe me, I know...
.NET 1.1 standards done, they can support all those legacy apps with few changes. Even if/when Microsoft introduces some spiffy new libraries with .NET 2.0, businesses can still say "it's cheaper for us to get off the forced upgrade wagon and move to Mono as a platform for .NET and we can keep our legacy applications." Unless .NET 2.0 comes up with some massively useful new system, there isn't that strong a reason to upgrade.
.NET because of patent issues. This hurts Microsoft by slowing the adoption of .NET. The worst that happens is that Mono has to fall back on its own libraries, and given that things like Gtk# are useful on their own they still have something to show for their work.
The reason why Microsoft can't radically alter
This is business.. You think the niggers at Microsoft actually care if you can maintain legacy apps if it means they can wring another licensing fee out of your IT dept? Heh, you need to wakeup to the realities of everyday business. If they can break it and offer you a "better" solution in order to keep your wallet clean; that's what they will do. That's business. This is also why Microsoft doesn't like opensource/gpl/standards etc, it fucks with their money.
So, if Mono can get the
Doesn't matter to them; less support and more money from the people that do switch. Since this is business they'll just do the normal song and dance, advertising, blowing on horns about how their shit is the best etc etc. If not enough people switch, backport some crack, get people like you hooked and you'll find 100 new reasons Mono sucks. This is not technical for Microsoft, so that massively useful brand new system they recycle from someones old idea will seem real useful to you.
Granted, Microsoft can still pull out a patent and try to shut Mono down, which remains a threat, but I don't see them as doing that. All Mono has to do is use that as a talking point - don't develop for
That's true but will be pointless in the grand scheme of things. Mono needs to stop following Microsoft spec and make Linux the better development platform. Use some of that brain power to forge a new path so we can start doing cool shit. Developers will come if it's better, if it isn't why bother? It's not like they have to write anything for Linux to begin with. So work isn't going to make it a requirement. Outside the scope of work where else is it going to take hold?
The more I think about it, the more I think Mono is in a strong position. I'd be more worried about Microsoft unleashing a patent infringement case than I would about them changing the APIs to shut out Mono. If they did that, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot.
I've gone over this for a while myself, I even gave mono a whirl. The simple fact is this, Microsoft doesn't give a shit if it doesn't affect bottom line. When it does and they start seeing Mono in places they feel they should be. They will find all ways to sue Mono into the ground. So they'll keep a lazy eye on it, if it becomes an issue, make sure Mono has a hard time. Right now, Mono isn't even a threat; they haven't said a thing about it.
It's as if Linux were able to run all Win95 applications just as Windows 2000 was coming around. Yes, Windows 2000 was infinitely better than 95, but if you're a P