[ale] best cross platform development evironment

[James Sumners]

On Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 10:16 AM, Lightner, Jeff <jlightner at water.com> wrote:
> To put it simply C# is NOT "free open source software" because of the restrictions M$ put in the patent agreement.

Both ECMA 334 and 335 are covered under MS's Open Specification
Promise[1], a legally enforceable[2] contract. Thus, MS cannot sue
anyone who implements 334 and 335 as detailed in the standards.
Therefore, Mono, the base implementation of C# and the .Net libraries,
ARE FOSS.

You not liking MS does not change that fact.

> If you think the only ones on the hook would be folks like Novell then you do NOT know the history of M$.   (By the way - It is ironic you used Novell as your example.   They are the only Linux distributor (SuSe) dumb enough to sign a no-sue agreement with M$ over FOSS.)

If you write an application using Mono, then you are not IMPLEMENTING
.Net. You are USING an implementation of .Net. Nothing in that patent
letter implies users of an implementation are subject to any action
what-so-ever. Only implementors. Additionally, Novell was not an
example (as indicated by my use of "i.e."[3]). Novell are the ones who
write, and maintain, Mono -- the implementation of 334 and 335.

This thread is about cross platform development environments for Linux
_and_ Windows. Java was eliminated from the realm of possibilities
because Oracle claims ownership of Java under threat of litigation,
despite Sun having licensed something with the name "Java" under the
GPL. So, the runner up, like it or not, is C# and .Net. Any other
environment is going to require much more work (making sure the right
libraries are installed, etc.).


[1] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Community_Promise
[2] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promise
[3] -- http://www.wikihow.com/Use-%22i.e.%22-Versus-%22e.g.%22

-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59