Apache resigns from the Java Community Process executive committee

"Mono is at least as encumbered by patents as Java is."

We differ in our interpretation of "at least". The Microsoft Community Promise makes a great deal of Mono "explicitly" unencumbered by Microsoft patents. This includes the entire CLR (equivalent of the JVM) and the entire C# language (the equivalent of um...Java).

In addition, Microsoft has released a great deal of software under Apache version 2.0 (ironically) which includes an explicit patent grant. The list of such software includes ASP.NET MVC, MEF, IronRuby, IronPython, and F#.

There are still parts of the .NET class libraries that are not covered by these two options though so you would need to implement free alternatives to these. For example, instead of Windows Forms or Windows Presentation Foundation you would need to use something like GTK#.

Still, I would not say Mono is "at least" as encumbered as Java. Not as I see it anyway.

Whether or not you like Mono is another matter. I would assume that somebody comparing it to a disease does not.

Oh, and the people that say that the MCP is not legally enforceable are complete wing-nuts. First of all, it definitely is (legal argument omitted as long and off-topic here), and second of all Microsoft has said in writing that it intends it to be enforceable and permanent.