[Mono-list] RE: Is it Mono safe?

[Christopher McGinnis]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rick Kitts [mailto:rkitts@loudhouse.org] 
> Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 4:11 PM
> To: Jeffrey Stedfast
> Cc: Christopher McGinnis; mono-list@lists.ximian.com
> Subject: Re: [Mono-list] RE: Is it Mono safe?
> 
> 
> On May 20, 2004, at 2:03 PM, Jeffrey Stedfast wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, 2004-05-20 at 13:50 -0700, Rick Kitts wrote:
> >> On May 20, 2004, at 12:52 PM, Christopher McGinnis wrote:
> >>
> >>> [...snip...]
> >>> I would have to whole heartedly agree.  Good technology is good 
> >>> technology no mater where it comes from.
> >>
> >> Would you have accepted a technology that, say, reduced processor 
> >> heat by 2 orders of magnitude (whatever) from, say, 
> Stalin's soviet 
> >> union knowing what you know now about that mass murdering 
> government?
> >>
> >> I think the question at hand is not, or at least should 
> not be, about 
> >> what is practical. The CLR (or .NET if you'd prefer) is 
> pretty sweet 
> >> no doubt about it. There is an ethical question regards 
> adopting a MS 
> >> technology that will help MS. MS is not friendly to my ability to 
> >> choose. Enhancing their position in any way offers them increasing 
> >> potential to diminish my ability to choose.
> >
> > you are confusing the issue. it's not the idea that can limit your 
> > freedom, it's the implementation that can.
> >
> > that said, your concerns becomes moot.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> >
> I'm sorry but I don't understand what you're saying.
> 
> ---Rick
> 

Just because .NET is a Microsoft concoction doesn't mean that writing
applications for Mono's implementation will in anyway lock you into a
Microsoft technology.  The idea is out there and will be implemented and
used.  If the implementation runs into legal issues it will change to avoid
those problems and Mono compiled applications may become incompatible with
the Microsoft version of .NET.

Also, what does ethics has to do with this conversation thread?  We all know
that Microsoft can be a bully.  But I'm sure there are a multitude of other
big business that try and bully as much as they can to get more market
share.  That is the nature of business.  Worrying about your right choose
seems like a silly thing to worry about since there we always be a choice
whether is be OS/2, Mac OS X, Solaris, Be, Irix, or a band new OS some
teenager made in his bedroom because he had nothing better to do.  Why not
instead worry about what new features you are going to put in your
application, what direction do you want your product to go in, how can you
improve the development cycle to release better products.  To me these seems
like things that should be worried about and to not be a paranoid conspiracy
theorist.

Your example of a Stalin Soviet Union is way to on the extreme side and only
serves to provide drama.  As I said earlier the nature of business is to
edge out your competitors as best you can.  Grow, devour, grow, and devour,
that's what business does.  It's just that no other business has be able to
perform these actions as well or as easily as Microsoft has.  If Microsoft
started killing babies I'd have to stop using it.  If a competitor goes
away, so what.

Chris

Chris