Re: C# SIG - Ravi Pratap of Ximian - Dec. 8 (fwd) -- all

["Bryan J. Smith" <b.j.smith@ieee.org>]

On Wed, 2003-11-26 at 10:51, Steven Pritchard wrote:
> So I can't exactly imagine why anyone would care, but in case any of
> you do...

I think most sysadmins miss the bigger picture.

First off, Microsoft is moving away from Win32/VC to the .NET/VC#
development model.  The .NET model is very UNIXprivilege-like (although
that is an oversimplification), and a major improvement over their past
efforts.

Secondly, what do companies use to port applications from Win32/VC to
GNU/X systems?  WINELib (the _porting_ library/kit, _not_ to be confused
with the WINE run-time emulator, although they come from the same
project/effort).

Third, what will companies use when they need to port their apps from
.NET/VC# to GNU/X?  That's where Mono comes in.  The Mono.NET platform
is basically building a GPL Freedomware porting kit for GNU/X systems.

While the Mono project is aiming for ABI (binary ala WINE-like)
compatibility with the Microsoft .NET/CLR (Common Language Runtime), we
all know Microsoft.  Micrsofot will break ABI.  But that means Mono _is_
still good as a porting kit (just like WINELib).

The cool thing about Mono is not only their GPL/LGPL goodies.  Intel, HP
and many other companies are now building classes and other libraries
that are not only BSD-licensed, but conform to the EMCA .NET/C# spec and
Mono is being used as the compatibility test for these vendors.

For once, we have a Freedomware effort that is trying to force a little
"compliance" on Microsoft by matching them, step by step, as they
develop their new platform.  Microsoft will still be Microsoft, and it's
difficult for the Mono team to "keep up" at times, but at least vendors
now have a "benchmark" to measure Microsoft against.

-- The "Developer and SysAdmin" BS

-- 
Bryan J. Smith, E.I.  mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org  http://thebs.org
CCDP LPIC-2 MasCIWA MCSE2K+Sec RHCE9 SCNA8 SCSecA9 +20 more certs
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The inherent routing and packet filtering (firewalling) features
in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 compete quite well with Linux
... i.e. Linux 2.0 ... i.e. circa 1997.



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