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Friday, March 12, 2004
.NET development on Linux. Honestly, I should have seen this coming, but didn't.
The Mono project has a clear goal: to become the first-choice platform for Linux software development. Considering that Mono is an implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework, that goal might sound particularly audacious to many Linux fans.
I have a Mandrake 9.2 machine that is just begging to try Mono. I admit being intrigued by the idea, but, as the author of the linked article asks:
The licensing status of Mono is of immediate concern to most would-be adopters. Isn't Mono at risk of being wiped out by Microsoft patents?
That is the question I had, too. Apparently, the implementation has separate API stacks for ECMA-standardized APIs (leaving out the Windows specific proprietary ones), and another for Mono-specific APIs. This abstraction will allow for eventualities, such as having to pay Microsoft licensing fees for using their proprietary APIs which have not yet been submitted to the ECMA.
So when is Mono scheduled to be released?
Getting Mono to its 1.0 release is the focus of the Mono team right now. This release is planned for June 2004, and will contain the .NET 1.0 and 1.1 APIs and an implementation of C# 1.0. By the end of the year, another release will add C# 2.0, .NET 1.2, and version 2.0 of Microsoft's ASP.NET and XML technologies.
Although I would prefer some implementation of VB.NET, this is still an exciting prospect. Somehow though, I can't see Microsoft sitting back as developers move to a competing platform without putting up a fuss, especially once ASP.NET, Windows.Forms, or ADO.NET are included in the package. I would look for them to enforce any licensing contracts to the letter of the law, especially those that do not fall under the ECMA spec. And I will be skeptical that the MS-centric technologies will be included until I actually see them.Labels: Archives_2004
.: posted by
Dave
10:28 AM
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