Re: [DotGNU]Bending the twig of .NET (large -- sorry)

[Norbert Bollow]

> Common Language Runtime
> ------------------------------------
> 
> I was surprised to see that this is considered something
> worthy of duplication

It is the only reasonable way to implement the DotGNU
Distributed Execution Environment.  We have very good reasons
for doing this, even if our reasons are entirely different from
Microsoft's reasons for doing a similar thing.

> However, this did not seem to me to be any response
> to actual Microsoft customer needs. [..] The whole CLR
> framework solves a strategic problem for Microsoft, not
> customers.

It is pretty obvious that Microsoft is doing a lot of things
that benefit themselves more than their customers.  The DotGNU
Distributed Execution Environment on the other hand addresses
very real customer needs.

> I'm sure there's some very good reason why it's important
> to mimic this Microsoft strategy to counter .Net -- but I just
> couldn't figure out what it was.

There's no benefit in imitating what Microsoft is doing.  We
need to be perceived as innovators, not imitators.  But when
Microsoft comes with a large, supposedly powerful framework,
that must be countered with a different large powerful
framework.

If our framework serves a useful purpose while Microsoft's
doesn't, that makes it easier to market our product.

> Creating an independent clone of a language that Microsoft
> released solely because they could no longer co-opt Java? I
> can see how that helps Microsoft and gives them credibility,
> but can't see how it helps any anti-Microsoft forces at all.

I have a feeling that Ximian is doing this for business reasons,
not for "anti-Microsoft reasons".  I personally woundn't want to
invest my time into this kind of project.

> My goal was to think about the 20% of .NET that actually
> matters to 80% of real users today, and what might be the simplest
> method of throwing a monkeywrench into that 20% of
> Microsoft's plan -- and soon.

YES - this is how to go about getting started with a first
quick-and-dirty incarnation of a "DotGNU Virtual Identity"
system.

> I filled the paper with different ideas, but only one seemed
> like something that could actually be working within a matter
> of weeks, and having an impact on Microsoft's plans within
> months. That idea was: a very simple, standards-based, single
> logon system that requires no authentication servers at all
[..]
> What matters right now, today, for real users, is not having to type
> in passwords, names, addresses, and credit card information all
> over again for each and every web site they go to. That's it. And
> that's not only a fairly simple problem, it's a problem area where
> Passport is still quite vulnerable today.
[..]
> I don't want to talk about features or implementation in detail,
> but about strategy and end-user perspective. The simple system
> I'm talking about has simple features: the user gets to create their
> own database of personal information on their own hard disk,
> it's portable to floppy, it works with their favorite web browser
> (e.g., via a plug-in) and participating web sites to eliminate the
> need to re-type identical personal information.

YES.  This is the way to go.

Greetings, Norbert.

-- 
Norbert Bollow, Weidlistr.18, CH-8624 Gruet  (near Zurich, Switzerland)
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