[Fsf-friends] Re: DotNet

[Sandip Bhattacharya]

Joe Steeve wrote:
> Thought mono is a GPLed software, the motivations of that project
> are not very supportive. DotNET is a dirty commercial
> venture. Mono's intention is not to defeat the dirty plan., but
> rather to enhance it on a different platform. If any GLUG/LUG
> decide to let a session on DotNET, it should be purely on
> DotGNU. 
> 

And how do you think .Net is different from Java in this regard?

- Both are backed by software giants
- Both companies have traditionally been fiercely proprietary
- Both of them offer a new language/platform.
- While C# is now an ECMA standard, Java is still architected by Sun's 
engineers (even though Sun can claim that they have a "community" process 
for extending the language/specs)
- Both have patents of various aspects of the implementation.
- Both have proprietary implementations in the market.
- Both have evangelists eager to win converts to the new platform.
- Both the corporations are profit driven.

Yet, since the days Java came into the market, there has been an explosion 
in FOSS software. We have several Java implementations now(including 
various GNU ones), and none to my knowledge was started off to defeat 
someone, but rather to provide an alternative.

Then why jump upon .Net just because it is offered from a particular 
company? Let them be misled into thinking they can infect the FOSS 
movement, while let us keep doing the reverse. ;)

BTW, the heydays of software products is over. Prepare yourself for the 
next generation - services[1]. In the future, it wont matter to consumers 
which OS/language/platform they use - the service will be God. In that 
point of view, Mono(and especially Mono ASP.Net)/dotGNU is going to be 
critical. So call them enhancing a dirty venture, if you will. But just 
like Apache has taken over the backend web server market, you will find 
Linux/Mono/dotGNU taking over the currently booming market of ASP.Net 
applications.

As somebody had once said something similar - "The dirty plan being 
defeated will be entirely a side effect". :)

- Sandip

[1] 
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/opensource/paradigmshift_0504.html

-- 
"সন্দীপ"
Sandip Bhattacharya    *    Puroga Technologies   *     sandip@puroga.com
Work: http://www.puroga.com        *         Home: http://www.sandipb.net

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