None, because Microsoft is implementing an open standard, rather than someone implementing a Microsoft technology.

Sorry, I thought I spelt it out enough the second time around. Lets try again: They should stick to providing access to APIs for Free software, where the important point is the "access to Free software" part, not the API.

Dude, you need to check your reading comprehension skills. I said "access to Free software", I didn't say "reinvent crazy new shit to replace stuff that already exists". I even gave the explicit example of GTK+ and Qt. How is this NIH? Hint: it's not.

So, yes, Mono's VM is great, C# is a great language, Mono's implementation of the ECMA standards is great (assuming deployers don't get sued for any submarine patent encumberance, like those GPS guys (Garmin?) recently did) and so is the fact you can write great GTK+ and Qt apps using it.

However whenever they implement something to make it easier for people to justify the use proprietary software elsewhere, for example, Moonlight, then they are harming the Free software community in the long run.

/Mike

Then great! But I would suggest that the majority of publishers won't, since if they are deploying a silverlight app they are going to be Windows-based anyway and not care.

Also, unless Mono's implementation is 100% up to date with Microsoft's, you're going to lose anyway since effectively no one is going to not use the latest and greatest version of Microsoft's technology, as soon as it is released.

"To view this site you need Silverlight 2.0, click here for a free download from Microsoft."

I didn't talk about "non-free APIs", why are you asking about them?

I said they should stick to providing access to APIs for Free software, rather than helping to increase Microsoft's market share and harming users of Free software in the long run by implementing Microsoft's APIs and technologies.

/Mike

Of course, this is why Mono's support of the .NET APIs in general, and Moonlight in particular, is bad for Linux: it is encouraging services to deploy Windows-specific technologies under the guise that it's actually "cross platform".

Mono is a nice VM and C# is a reasonable language, but they should stick to implementing Free APIs, like Qt and GTK+.

/Mike

What values of "don't install solitare" don't you understand? How much easier does it get than that?

/Mike

Fucking racist whiteys.

I guess that's what happens when you buy proprietary software - you're screwed if the vendor pulls the plug on you.

/Mike

Can someone please pass this on to the Australian Federal Government, in particular the Minister for Censoring the Internet, the Hon Stephen Conroy.

kthnkxbye

/Mike

Yeah, this is the problem. While it is certainly possible to get part time employment as a software engineer (I've been doing it for some years now), it's impossible to rise out of the ranks of code monkey. You might make it to senior code monkey but would never become a project leader, for example.

I think this is mainly because the more senior positions need to be across the whole project, available for whenever a decision/problem/whatever comes up and if you're only the 0.5 or 0.6 of the time, you're not going to be very useful.

As noted elsewhere, consulting is perhaps a little different but that has its own pitfalls.

/Mike

This isn't true at all. I've been working part time as a software engineer for a few years while I study. There are places that will take on a part time developer, not many, but they exist.

/Mike

+1, Correct.

Actually, the whole point of OpenGL was to provide software- and hardware- vendor agnostic API for writing applications that perform 3D rendering. You've clearly been living in a monoculture too long if you can't see that.

Software fallback is nice to have but, it's certainly not the reason OGL exists.

/Mike

"Novel method for rasterizing three dimensional scenes in absence of specific hardware support."

/Mike