[Mono-list] Is it Mono safe?

Thu, 20 May 2004 11:53:18 +0100

Some information...

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/4557=20

Miguel and Novell legal staff are currently conducting a formal patent revi=
ew
of mono, and the team had already split up the components of mono into
separate ECMA-based and non-ECMA components (WinForms, ADO.NET, etc) to
clearly define what RedHat and others could make use of.=20

Importantly, Miguel also said that Ximian had a letter from Microsoft, Intel
and HP stating that they would offer *royalty-free* RAND licensing to the
ECMA-submitted components of .NET. [Aside: He said they were kicking around
catchy names like 'polio' or 'cholera' to distinguish the free and non-free
stacks] I told Miguel he should publicize the letter more because it was su=
ch
a relief to me, but he said it would be premature to promote this before the
patent review was complete in case other infringement was uncovered.

http://www.go-mono.com/faq.html#patents

Most importantly: "For Linux server and desktop development, we only need t=
he
ECMA components, and things that we have developed (like Gtk#) or Apache
integration."

http://www.mail-archive.com/mono-list@lists.ximian.com/msg06501.html
Read Andy Satori's very well though out response, also Miguel's second
response further down in the thread. I believe Andy hit the nail on the head
with regards to the possibility of MS imposing restrictions on Mono in the
future. MS are trying to better their image. They are now even releaseing o=
ld
source on sourceforge. They would not benefit from any future attack on Mon=
o.

http://nwc.linuxpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=3D20300445

Yet according to de Icaza, open source advocates have blown the royalty iss=
ue
out of proportion. "We already know that the ECMA components are
royalty-free," he stated. "To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of a=
ny
libraries or other parts that would have to be licensed" under royalty terms
from Microsoft.=20

"I think this issue comes up more because people in the open source communi=
ty
are scared of Microsoft and because they're ill-informed about the issue," =
de
Icaza said. "We've spent a lot of time dealing with [the patent question],
and we're confident that we understand it."

--------

I believe the Mono/Novell tem are working on an official legal standing for
Mono 1.0, so please wait until then before voicing growing concern for the
implications of development with the framework.

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Ask Ulsnes [mailto:simon@ulsnes.dk]=20
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 11:34 AM
To: COOPER, Jonathan -Syntegra UK
Cc: mono-list@lists.ximian.com
Subject: Re: [Mono-list] Is it Mono safe?

Tell me again:
Why doesn't Novell/Ximian contact Microsoft to get it on paper that Mono _i=
s_
safe?

(and if Microsoft refuses, can we actually be sure it is safe?)

- Simon

jonathan.cooper@syntegra.com wrote:

>I think one of the greatest barriers to adoption of mono by influential=20
>developers will always be the MS issue. Miguel has explained the legal=20
>situation over and over, but there are some linux users who will argue=20
>over the smallest detail wherever MS is concerned with a technology.
>
>It is unfortunate that the community will negate the fantastic success=20
>of the mono development guys through FUD and miscommunication.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: mono-list-admin@lists.ximian.com
>[mailto:mono-list-admin@lists.ximian.com] On Behalf Of Melinda
>Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 6:40 AM
>To: Mono List
>Subject: [Mono-list] Is it Mono safe?
>
>Look over here:
>http://www.gnome.org/~seth/blog/mono
>and here:
>http://www.osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=3D7094
>
>This is bad news.... :(
>How do you convince somebody to programming in Mono if he already read=20
>that news?
>
>
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