I read an article about the possibilities of .NET going Open Source. Is Microsoft crazy? No. Definitely NOT!

The .NET Miracle (for developers) = Framework + IDE

Framework: Microsoft has made their framework free for download somewhere on their site. Linux Developers have made a imitation framework http://www.mono-project.org which imitates the .NET framework and runs on Linux as well as Windows.

IDE: Microsoft definitely (at least not in the nearest future) make their IDE free or open source, therefore Linux gurus have come up with an Open Source IDe that compiles with both the .NET framework and Mono framework. www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/Default.aspx.

Comments on what MS will do next?

Microsoft seems to be in trouble. They have two major sources of income - Windows and Office.

Windows still seems stable (?though bug ridden?) and doesnt seem to have any much competition for now. But Office is having serious competition like ThinkFree, BackPack, HipCal, OpenOffice and other applications links on this thread.

That aside, if SharpDeveloper gains ground with the Mono project, I think the same type of attack on Office will be launched against Visual Studio. Because, why would I pay $$$$ for software with has a free alternative. Support? Use Google

MONO is having some problem because it violates M$ copyright in some way, if M$ decided to press charges MONO will be down the drain in a matter of days.

LAMP/WAMP is more than enough.

The .NET Framework is not open source. It is an open standard (detailed in ECWA) and based on that, different people can decide to implement it on any platform, if they so desire. So no, Mono is not in violation of any of Microsoft's copyright laws.

The IDE, however is not open source, and I doubt it will be anytime in the future. We can't be too sure though.

The .NET Framework is not open source. It is an open standard (detailed in ECWA) and based on that, different people can decide to implement it on any platform, if they so desire. So no, Mono is not in violation of any of Microsoft's copyright laws.

The lead developer (Miguel) of MONO pointed the problems out in an article i read about 2 years ago.

Here are some links that can clarify what i have said:

http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=32&thread=3631

http://lists.ximian.com/pipermail/mono-winforms-list/2004-April/000666.html

http://swpat.ffii.de/pikta/xrani/cifs/index.en.html

If Bill decides to go after Mono, i doubt it will succeed because it will only succeed in pushing the project more into the hand of linux coders. with the current tred on dark-nets, mono will oly get better.

napster was fragile becuase it had a central point of operation, gnutella is still pretty untouchable and other p2p networks. mono would just go the dsame way in my opinion. if i were ms, i would focus on software as services to ensure google doesnt take over.

Those that are still on are running like pirate radios. A project must be free from legal shackles to gain community-wide acceptance.