
Submission + - Microsoft Puts C# and the CLI under Community Prom (technet.com) 3
It is important to note that, under the Community Promise, anyone can freely implement these specifications with their technology, code, and solutions. You do not need to sign a license agreement, or otherwise communicate to Microsoft how you will implement the specifications.
... Under the Community Promise, Microsoft provides assurance that it will not assert its Necessary Claims against anyone who makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, imports, or distributes any Covered Implementation under any type of development or distribution model, including open-source licensing models such as the LGPL or GPL.
This clears the way for Mono to be fully integrated into GNOME, and Boycott Novell can go back to crying in their corner.