Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

I guess when you are in trouble and ailing as Corel is, you will say yes to any proposal that yields cash flow. Corel has "won" the deal to help port .Net and C# (not sharp, its pound sand) to FreeBSD in a "shared source" manner. Sounds like we had our cake and are still hungry?

C# will not infringe on Java. Porting to one OS other than Windows does not a "run anywhere" language make. The proprietary nature of C# is exactly why it is not even in the same league as Java.

There is no way in hell that any knowledgeable developer would adopt C# over Java in a *nix environment (short of flat out profound bribery.) Does C# make sense on Windows?

Sure, maybe, the tools need to fit the job (here we coudl diverge into why Windows in the first place, but I digress.) However if MS thinks they are going to get the people who made the innovation and advancements of open source technologies possible (including the IP stack they stole from freeBSD, the DNS implementation they stole from ISC, and countless other open standards and protocols they have bastardized and "adopted") then they are crazy. The pros and cons of C# aside, if you have a real server, say a freeBSD or Linux server, you dont install some crap layer on top of it to make it talk C#!?! You use a real webserver and real app server, etc, you use apache, tomcat, java, etc.

There are many aspects of computing where Microsoft can and does dominate. However aspects such as web servers, application servers, database servers, security, non-proprietary application development languages and environemnts, etc (basically where substance matters more than flashy buttons to click on, where reliability and performance are required) are NOT those areas and they wont likely ever be. Godspeed Mr. Mundie.

SIDENOTE: Props to Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. They have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to many worthwhile causes and that is a very admirable and unselfish approach that we call could learn from. Despite the tactics of the company, Bill deserves a hearty thanks and our respect for this foundation and its direction. The most recent donation was to AIDS research, and as it turns out it will probably be more than the US adminsitration will provide for the same cause. Thanks Bill, its not all bad.

  Microsoft and Corel C# partnership for