Re: [Mono-list] RE: Is it Mono safe?

[David Waite]

In the end, the 'Microsoft may attempt to screw Linux users over' is 
not the real issue, but a distraction point to help carry FUD of this 
sort. Patent issues are not restricted to a particular vendor or 
product; there are several other open-source and free-software projects 
which may very well infringe on patents.

Some projects, such as the Linux kernel, have taken a reactive view of 
patents - knowing that a patent exists just means they are liable for 
punitive damages, so patent issues should just be worked through as 
they come up case-by-case.  Due to this fear of Microsoft and the 
opportunity of mono to become fundamental infrastructure over the 
coming years, a more proactive approach is being taken - a legal review 
leading up to 1.0.

So perhaps the correct response is not to counter Microsoft behavioral 
maybes with counter-conjecture, but instead to say that there is active 
work to identify legal issues. Indeed, a 1.0 release of mono might very 
well be "safer" w.r.t. to patents than most other free software.

-David Waite
On May 20, 2004, at 1:30 PM, Mark Easton wrote:
Look over here:
http://www.gnome.org/~seth/blog/mono
and here:
http://www.osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=3D7094

This is bad news.... :(
The first link is not news but rather random blog musings and the 
second
link is more akin to personal opinion than news.

How do you convince somebody to programming in Mono if he already read
that
news?
While there's a strong urge for Linuxites to dislike any technology
that's related to MS, real developers should be without technical
prejudice and the benefits of Mono pretty much speaks for themselves.
Sure there's a chance that MS might do some patent slapping at some
point, but is it really going to be worth their while?  After all, Mono
makes it a lot easier to integrate Windows solutions with 
cross-platform
software and it makes .NET much more attractive for organisations 
who're
afraid of vendor entrenchment or have reams of legacy software running
on assorted boxes.

I personally feel that MS is going to be over the moon when Mono
stabilises as it will help MS to push their products onto non-Windows
platforms and it will help MS push .NET to organisations that might
otherwise consider Java and OSS.
If you'll forgive the blasphemy, perhaps what's required for Linux to
finally 'succeed' on the desktop is for MS to release .NET versions of
their product lines - Imagine the joy of Windows Media Player on Linux!
Mark
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