Microsoft open sources .NET, but will it make a difference?

English Open Chat
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Microsoft open sources .NET : Microsoft Open Sources .NET and Mono - Miguel de Icaza

The code is available today from GitHub - microsoft/referencesource: Source from the Microsoft .NET Reference Source that represent a subset of the .NET Framework. Mono will be able to use as much a it wants from this project.

We have a project underway that already does this. We are replacing chunks of Mono code that was either incomplete, buggy, or not as fully featured as it should be with Microsoft’s code.

I wonder, though, how big of an impact this will have on Linux users as Mono-based applications like F-spot have been replaced with Shotwell and other projects (Tomboy, Banshee, etc.) have not had the same prominence lately as a few years ago.

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Well, if it had any use, if it was any good, if it was worth anything, MS would surely not have released it!

Sorry if I sound sour, but I have put up with their shenanigans since PC-DOS 2.0! But then, so have a lot of us.

Bart

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I think they are releasing it because without Mono they are finding that .NET is severely limited in this web & mobile world. Yes, there is ASP.NET for web but the web runs mostly on Linux, and the Windows Phone is the only one to run anything like .NET and it’s market share is dismal.

When you add in Xamarin and Mono. Now you have .NET that works on Linux servers and Xamarin makes .NET work on Android and iOS!

So instead of letting .NET continue to become irrelevant where they have no control (and no revenue from Visual Studio and MSDN subscriptions) by open sourcing it they can try to capture these platforms that was primarily the property of Java.

Understandably for the Open Source and Linux crowd this is probably not going to make that much of a difference, other than the few Mono-based applications becoming more compatible. For enterprises that already have investment in .NET but are looking at switching to Linux-based servers or cloud solutions it keeps them “in the fold” by allowing them to possibly use their existing program on Linux/Cloud rather than them leaving wholesale.