[Mono-list] I give up / Mac OS X PPC support

[Steve Mentzer]

Sadly, I must agree. The mono team have made excellent progress=
 on bringing PPC into the JIT era.... but.....

On a whim, I decided to install fedora core 1 and build mono. It=
 built and installed without incident. Truly remarkable. I must=
 say that I was impressed. XSP kept crashing, but that is a=
 different story...

On x86 hardware, I prefer windows xp/2003. Sorry, I love *nix,=
 but linux doesn't do much for me on x86, especially when=
 x86/windows offers 100% compatibility and killer dev tools.=
 Frankly, there is no real reason to host asp.net apps under=
 apache, when my XP box does better after locking it down. No=
 religion here folks, just reality.

OS/X and PPC is a different story. This is a situation that is=
 DYING for an x86 crossover platform. Don't talk to me about=
 Java.... if I wanted java, I wouldn't be using mono or c#.

C++/wxWindows/Qt/GTK/etc... yawn. Once again, I want c#.

Mono on the PPC is painful. There is no *documented*, stable or=
 official GUI toolkit support. Hell, even the core runtime is=
 about as stable as IIS 4. :)

Beyond that, the mono releases are hit and miss. You have about a=
 75% chance of the build failing or getting the dreaded 'bus=
 error'.

I appreciate the new features and the roadmap, but if all mono=
 has to offer is x86/linux stability, then mono has only=
 succeeded in doing is providing a 'free' implementation of the=
 .net runtime that runs on the same commodity hardware that a=
 fully supported and commercial version runs on.

Mono cannot win if it sticks to the 'linux vs. windows' card.=
 Linux hacks hate MS and C# and .NET. Corporate windows users=
 will be reluctant to adopt linux/mono when they can get a fully=
 supported, commercial version from MS that will run on the same=
 hardware. Believe it or not, most windows shops adopting .NET=
 don't care about OS licensing costs or security. They are=
 interested in RAD. So mono is a little like selling ice cubes to=
 the eskimos.

Now, if mono ran reliably on HPUX, sparc, linux, os/x, windows,=
 *bsd and some other *nix variants, then you would have succeeded=
 in beating MS at their own game. The only argument against .net=
 now is that it isn't cross platform. If mono fills that niche,=
 then the sky is the limit. 

No offense to the mono team, but you should either drop support=
 for PPC entirely or actually concentrate on getting it as stable=
 as x86/linux. 

Sorry for the long rant guys... its been a long day... :)


Original Message -----------------------
> my  problem with gtk# personally is that mac os x is not=
 supported. 
> although you can find people who hacked it together, if  you co=
 it 
> from cvs, and install it, the samples don't work. i don't have=
 a linux 
> box, only a mac, and i would love to play with mono on it, but=
 it's 
> been two months now, and i don't feel any closer.
>
> there are also problems with xsp, and sometimes mono doesn't=
 compile 
> either (i mean cvs version).
> regards,

Grudgingly, I have to agree with above statement(s).  Mono=
 support for 
Mac OS X/ PPC is fragile at best.  I even tried to put together a=
 page 
on the basic steps ( 
http://homepage.mac.com/griffincaprio/mono/RunningMonoOnMacOSX.ht=
ml ), 
but I have all but given up trying to maintain that page.  This=
 is 
because mono not reliable from day to day, release to release, on=
 the 
PPC / Mac OS X platform.

I am not saying that running off the CVS tree is the most stable=
 way to 
work, but this goes for the releases also.  0.29 worked on the=
 PPC, 
0.30 didn't  without some major hacking.  0.31 doesn't work=
 reliably, 
either.

Some of the steps I have taken to compile mono include:
- configure switches
- external, 3rd party source downloads
- editing actual code/headers to accommodate the PPC platform.

What's worse, is that when I encounter errors, i receive almost=
 no help 
on the mailing lists.  Some of these are not doubt strange=
 errors, and 
some are very common, but my posts go unanswered either way.

I haven't even gotten to gtk#...

Segmentation faults, bus errors, frozen compiles, etc....  The=
 list 
goes on and on.  I hope to come back to mono in a few months,=
 when/if 
PPC support is better.  But for now, I feel that it's a lost=
 cause.

- Griffin

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