[DotGNU]Microsoft & Mono

[Chris Mannall]

from http://www.softwareuncovered.com/news/cgram-20010716.html#1....



07/16/2001 - Unthinkable Happens Between Microsoft and Open Source
Computergram International: Issue 4207, July 16, 2001!%/TD%!!%TD%! - Top
Stories

By Gavin Clarke

After months of hostility, the astounding prospect of cooperation - albeit
limited - between Microsoft Corp and the open source community has been
raised, as the Windows giant said it would assist work on an open source
version of .NET for Linux and Unix.

Microsoft told ComputerWire it would provide technical assistance to Ximian
Inc in its work on the Mono Project, to develop a version of .NET for Linux
and Unix using open source development. Boston, Massachusetts-based Ximian
announced the Mono Project last week.

David Stutz, group program manager for the shared source implementation of
Microsoft's Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) told ComputerWire: "We have
talked informally with Ximian, and will determine with Ximian whether
technical assistance would be appropriate." Ximian was unable to be
contacted.

Stutz said that Microsoft supports Ximian's work, which he called a
"testament to the openness and viability" of the .NET platform. He said that
Ximian's work potentially gives developers a choice of .NET platforms -
Microsoft or Mono.

Communication between the parties is a step forward for developers and
customers working with mixed environments, especially as recent dialogue
between Microsoft and the open source community has consisted of a series of
insults over the nature of the General Public License. The Mono Project has
only been made possible because key elements of Microsoft .NET have been
made publicly available through standards, and Redmond, Washington-based
Microsoft appears to have been blind-sided.

Cooperation, though, is likely to be limited and designed to ensure the
success of Microsoft's platform. While Ximian said last week said that
applications built for Microsoft's .NET will execute under its planned open
source CLI for Linux and Unix, Microsoft's CLI is not expected to execute
Linux and Unix applications.

Microsoft also hopes that the prospect of bundling features such as Instant
Messaging, browser and multimedia with the operating system will tempt
developers to its own platform. Theoretically, this step will give
applications running on Windows richer features than Windows applications
that run on Linux or Unix under Mono. This depends, though, on how the open
source community builds its libraries and calling languages.

"Microsoft will do everything that it can to ensure that Windows remains the
best place to run Windows applications. That said, if someone wants to write
Windows-based applications for other platforms, we're not opposed to the
idea," Stutz said.