Python vs .Net (

[Avery Andrews]

How does this play out in places that don't recognize software patents,
especially where the local government is not interested in promoting the
dominance of M$?  'twould be odd for USA-ans to be looking to Latin
America and China for the defense of freedom, but such is life ...

On Tue, 7 Jan 2003, Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters wrote:

> "Etienne Charland" <mystery at golden.net> wrote previously:
> |Some work is done to make .NET cross-platform: MONO
> |www.go-mono.com
> 
> I do hope everyone knows that it is not a question of IF, but WHEN,
> Microsoft will decide to sue MONO out of existence.
> 
> The whole thing smells of usual MS dirty tricks... they have released
> just enough of API details to allow Ximian to waste time on implementing
> MONO.  But MS has kept many parts of the API as trade-secrets, and has
> wrapped much of the documented API in patents.
> 
> MS's goal here is to maintain an official face that ".NET" is
> cross-platform and open.  But as soon as MONO has any success at all, MS
> *will* pour millions of dollars into lawyers to claim patent violations
> in MONO (and maybe trademark, copyright, trade-secret) issues.  Those
> lawyers *will* get restraining orders against the distribution of MONO,
> effectively killing the project.  Of course semi-underground copies of
> MONO will still exist, but not any effective development project; and if
> Ximian isn't outright bankrupted, they might eventually win in court,
> many years after the APIs have gone somewhere else altogether.
> 
> Yours, Lulu (a soothsayer)...
> 
> --
> mertz@  | The specter of free information is haunting the `Net!  All the
> gnosis  | powers of IP- and crypto-tyranny have entered into an unholy
> .cx     | alliance...ideas have nothing to lose but their chains.  Unite
>         | against "intellectual property" and anti-privacy regimes!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
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