The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) [LWN.net]

The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)

Posted Nov 20, 2008 12:05 UTC (Thu) by epa (subscriber, #39769)
In reply to: The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld) by vblum
Parent article: The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)

"Mono" is a remarkable name for a project that contains contagious software patents.

Can you cite any of these patents? The Mono project has a public commitment to remove any code that infringes software patents held by Microsoft or anyone else, so if you could give some examples you'll be doing everyone a favour.

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The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)

Posted Nov 21, 2008 8:52 UTC (Fri) by vblum (guest, #1151) [Link]

Sorry. Allegedly. That should have been there, that is what I meant to write anyway. And the "alleged" has been around for a while.

I just always thought it odd that mono was chosen as a name especially for this project. Mono - a disease that is, by some popular accounts, transmitted by kissing and then takes half a year to go away? Very weird choice.

The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)

Posted Nov 21, 2008 11:14 UTC (Fri) by epa (subscriber, #39769) [Link]

Mono means monkey in Spanish.

Really, I think it is blowing FUD to 'allege' patent infringement while giving no details of what those patents are. If anyone could cite the patents concerned, it would be a great help, because as Miguel said:

The position of the Mono project has always been that we believe .Net includes a lot of innovation along with a good mix of well-known technology. So, if people found a patent infringement, we would take it out. If there's prior art, though, the patent is invalid. This is the way it is done in the open source world. A good example is Freetype. They discovered that they could not use a byte code interpreter for fonts, so they invented a different approach.
This kind of punditry is always light on details. We've grown used to this. Mono was criticized way before Novell acquired Ximian. There is an animosity toward "anything Microsoft," and it lowers the level of discourse that you can have.
I wish people focused on what the actual problems are. I am certainly against software patents. It is not only Microsoft that owns software patents, but hundreds of companies. But, I think Mono is singled out, and people give a free pass to lots of other projects.

(my italics)

The Microsoft-Novell Linux deal: Two years later (InfoWorld)

Posted Nov 21, 2008 14:39 UTC (Fri) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link]

It's only a weird choice if you're american and think all the world speaks USAsian slang. I had to google to find out you were talking about glandular fever..