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Silverlight On the Way To Linux

Posted by timothy on from the howl-at-the-moonlight dept.

Afforess writes "For the past two years Microsoft and Novell have been working on the 'Moonlight' project. It is a runtime library for websites that run Silverlight. It should allow PCs running Linux to view sites that use Siverlight. Betanews reports 'In the next stage of what has turned out to be a more successful project than even its creators envisioned, the public beta of Moonlight — a runtime library for Linux supporting sites that expect Silverlight — is expected within days.' Moonlight 2.0 is already in the works."

14 of 475 comments (clear)

  1. What a surprise... backhanded support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While Windows is getting version 2, and the Mac is almost version 2, Linux is almost getting version 1. Awesome job MS.

    1. Re:What a surprise... backhanded support by YttriumOxide · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I haven't noticed the tableLayout issues you describe, but actually it could be because out of the MANY .NET GUI apps I've written, I've used tableLayout exactly once (and that was in a beta of a project - I got rid of it by release)... but if you're really paranoid about it, just develop using GTK#, and then you don't have to worry about WinForms stuff at all. I do generally use WinForms though as most of the end users of my programs will be on Windows. For cases where I expect users to use something else, I'll do another front end in GTK# (and I've been looking closely at Cocoa# as well), but even for the apps where I don't expect users to use anything but Windows, I'll still run compatibility checks and make release notes about my apps under both MacOSX and a Linux system I have for that purpose.

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
    2. Re:What a surprise... backhanded support by Tom · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The GUI people need to start shifting gears...

      Been there, done that. The GUI people on the Linux front need to drop dead and make way for people who care about user experience, not self-glorification.

      Me, I tried to punch some sense into the Gnome project many years ago. There was a dedicated mailing list for GUI design. On that list, maybe three people had read any UI guidelines at all. Not a single person was an expert in the field. Very few had an understanding that you can not design a GUI in a laboratory without user-testing.

      Unless there was a radical shift somewhere - but I don't see any signs of that in the final products - GUI design on Linux is a total and utter failure.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  2. Javascript by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    With what is being achieved with Javascript and dynamic HTML, I see less and less need for technologies such as Flash and Silverlight. The only thing they really have going for them are the development environments. To see some of the games already implemented using plain old Javascript and HTML:

    http://www.apple.com/webapps/games/

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  3. I think I'll pass by Bralkein · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can't say I have much love for Adobe and Flash, and I simply do not trust Microsoft, but if Linux support is going to be a key point-scoring device in the corporate pissing contests of today then I suppose a few good things might come of it. Let battle commence!

  4. What about a Windows release? by Ed+Avis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Moonlight is great but it's for Linux only. (Mono itself runs on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.) That reduces its suitability for making dynamic websites, because Mac and Windows users don't have a free browser plugin to run them with. They only have Microsoft's proprietary Silverlight plugin, and if you're going to require a binary-only plugin then you might as well just use Flash. So I think a Windows version of Moonlight would be cool; just as many people prefer to run the free Firefox browser even though Windows includes the proprietary Internet Explorer, so Moonlight could provide a free alternative for dynamic content.

    --
    -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
    1. Re:What about a Windows release? by Ed+Avis · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't know a single Windows user of Firefox who uses it because it's free, and IE is proprietary.

      I can't be the only one, surely. But the very fact of being free is some advantage. For example, a free program can support options like 'save stream to disk' or 'block this advertisement' that proprietary software is unlikely to support for fear of upsetting vested interests. If you don't think there is any inherent advantage to free software, and the only criterion should be how well the program works when downloaded as an unchangeable binary blob, then as I said you might as well forget Silverlight and Moonlight, and just use Flash. Its market share is far higher. The biggest reason to be interested in Moonlight is as an open source alternative.

      --
      -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
  5. I enjoy the web less and less every day by NobleSavage · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's a real treat when you find a site that is static html. It's fast, clean, and refreshing. Flash and Ajax have their place, but more often than not they just irritate me. I'm tired of sites that peg my CPU and crash my browser.

    Maybe I'm just getting old and cynical, but I'm sure Moonlight will only contribute to web bloat and add to my frustrations. And that is being generous and not bring up that MS is part of the equation.

    I just hope this fails to catch on and people forget about it.

  6. Open Source with javascript and Ogg? by Arrawa · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Just curious, is there an open source alternative with javascript/ajax and Ogg Vorbis available which can compete with flash and Silverlight? I mean free server components, free developer tools and free web plugins if needed. If not, why not?

  7. Re:can anyone elaborate by abigsmurf · · Score: 4, Interesting
    http://weblogs.asp.net/jezell/archive/2007/05/03/silverlight-vs-flash-the-developer-story.aspx

    Lists the different approach Silverlight takes over flash. It's mostly about making it better for developers than the end user.

  8. Re:Flash or Silverlight by Teferison · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There is one big advantage that silverlight might bring to the Linux world: Competition
    I would love to see a bit of pressure on Adobe to improve their Linux Flash support.

  9. Re:there's one thing I'll stay clear of by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Or a plug in to eclipse

    You mean, like this one (which is funded by Microsoft)?

  10. Re:you need more than games by chrish · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Compare the user experience of loading a page with a Java applet vs. one with Flash or Silverlight. With the Java page, your browser is dead to the world while the JVM hauls itself up from the disk like a brontosaurus. With Flash or Silverlight, the control pops up quickly and the app loads.

    This is one thing that I've always wondered about... why do .NET apps, even running through Mono, load so much faster than Java apps?

    Serious question; I'm not really a fan of Java (although I use Eclipse a lot and I've written a few Java articles for IBM's developerWorks site), but I do like using the right tool for the job, whatever that job might be...

    --
    - chrish
  11. Netflix compatible? by sricetx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So does the latest Moonlight version work with the Netflix "Watch Instantly" feature? If not then this isn't a very interesting announcement.