[Mono-list] CNet Article "C# Standardization Moves Ahead" (ISO C# and CLI)

[Daniel Morgan]

CNet news.com "C# standardization moves ahead" By Stephen Shankland

The news article is at:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-961737.html

However, I found the link at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/developers/02/10/11/150256.shtml?tid=156


Some interesting tid bits I found I have commented on below.


"Last week, an ISO subcommittee cleared the way for final ratification by
the full ISO of C# and the required underpinnings called the Common Language
Infrastructure (CLI), said John Montgomery, group product manager for the
.Net Developer Platform at Microsoft."

Cool.  ISO C# and CLI standards.


"Analysts said the C# and CLI submissions from Microsoft to ECMA and now ISO
define only a subset of the .Net Framework that makes it possible to share
data with applications on other operating systems. Not included, for
example, is software needed to define a Windows or Web graphical user
interface...  Also missing from the submission is the .Net code needed to
access databases"

And I'm sure there are many other neccessary pieces missing from the C# and
CLI submissions.  What are they?   Good thing Mono is implementing many of
these missing pieces, such as, Windows Forms based on winelib, ASP.NET, and
ADO.NET.


"Microsoft is... including the .Net Framework, with Service Pack 1 for the
Windows XP operating system."

I never did like "Service Packs" to include new fuctionality.  They should
only contain bug fixes.  However, we know that .NET will be included with
any new operating systems from Microsoft now.  Those new operating systems
will not contain Java.  If you want Java, you will have to download it.


Microsoft has also "released a version of the CLI--the software apparatus to
run C# programs--under its "shared source" license. That license permits
people to see how Microsoft programmers wrote the software and to tinker
with it, but not to sell products using it."


However, Microsoft is considering to allow people to sell products with the
shared-source CLI for a price.

"Microsoft has attracted some unusual allies to C# and the CLI, including
advocates of open-source software who often are opposed to Microsoft's
proprietary approach to software. Among the allies is desktop Linux
specialist Ximian, which with help from Hewlett-Packard and Intel is working
to clone much of the C# environment in a project called Mono."

I didn't realize that HP (or is it HPQ now?) and Intel were helping Ximian
with Mono.  Is this true?


Moreover, those are my thoughts on the article, what do you think?