[Mono-list] On Mono and Patents ... again

[Alex Nedelcu]

Hi,

Sorry to bring this up again like so many others.

It seems quite outrageous the way Novell and Miguel are promoting Mono.

OK, I know. It's a cool technology. But it comes from Microsoft.
The reason why Linux has succeeded was because it's free and because it provides
great value unmatched by Windows. It's simply superior in many ways.

The reason why OS/2 failed is because it provided a Win32 emulator so why
programming for OS/2 when you can target both OS/2 and Windows.
Problem was that Microsoft constantly changed the api and they couldn't keep up.

Let's start with Miguel's favorite saying:
     "The software patent problem is not limited to Mono. Software
patents affect everyone
      writing software today."
Yes, that may be true. But you are deliberately violating those
software patents. It's all in the open, everybody knows it, and you
picked the best company as a target.
And yeah, GNOME and Linux in general don't rely neither on WINE nor on
Samba, and Sun made sure full open source implementations of J2SE 5
are possible. Google for Apache Harmony and it's reasons ;)

The only reply Miguel and Novell have regarding the ECMA/ISO parts is
this (from their FAQ):
"Jim Miller at Microsoft has made a statement on the patents covering ISO/ECMA,
(he is one of the inventors listed in the patent)"
    - imagine that, wow, he is one of the inventors

And here's what he says:
"But Microsoft (and our co-sponsors, Intel and Hewlett-Packard) went
 further and have agreed that our patents essential to implementing C#
  and CLI will be available on a "royalty-free and otherwise RAND" basis
 for this purpose."

So, please enlighten me how the "will be available" part is any consolation ?
Do you trust Microsoft ? Do you expect me or anyone else to ?
How does a promise make up for a legal document ?
Is this letter even original ? Can you proove it ?

Also from their FAQ:
"Basically a grant is given to anyone who want to implement those
components for free and for any purpose."
What a bunch of bullshit. What proof do you have ?
To think of it, I can probably even sue you for such lies.
>From Jim Miller's letter it should be: "Basically a grant **WILL BE**
given if Microsoft will someday be in a good mood ...."

So, will Microsoft, the "not so evil as others company" as seen by
many mono fuckheads,
ever sue Novell or companies that rely on Mono ? My guess is that they will:
http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?newsid=2654
http://linux.sys-con.com/read/124218.htm

Even if it doesn't happen ... Windows programmers will not move to
Linux, it will have the reverse effect actually. I already saw
colleagues of mine that tried Mono, liked it and now thinking of
moving from Java to .NET and from Linux to Windows.

And Novell will be just fine, they will reinvent themselves again.
Miguel will be hired by Microsoft (it was his dream after all). It's
everybody else that will suffer.

Why the hell haven't you picked another platform ? Why not Java ?
There is also Parrot. If that's not good enough why not inventing
another Java wanna-be with only slight improvements and call it
otherwise ? Why not improve on C# without calling it a .NET port ? Why
not invent something new ?

I will tell you why .... It is easier for Novell to increase it's
market share this way. After all, it's pretty hard this days to have a
competition like Red Hat. It's all about the money.

So I'll tell you this: I won't use Evolution anymore if you poison it
with Mono, I won't use Gnome anymore if you poison it with Mono, and I
will definitely bash at Mono every chance I get. And I am sure there
are others like me.

Before calling me a troll that spreads FUD, first read the wikipedia definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUD
As you saw already, I have good reasons and proofs for my statements
(it's fucking obvious).
It's your turn. Please provide evidence that the ECMA/ISO parts are
"royalty free" (legal this time) and dump the non-ECMA stacks and then
I will bow to you. Also, if such evidence exist please update that
stupid FAQ (it is useless in it's current state).

So again, FUCK YOU for trying to poison Linux (or Gnome for that
matter). Please remember you don't own it. And ... don't worry about
other flames from me ... I will unsubscribe.