[wplug] C#

[Chester R. Hosey]

Logan Stack wrote:
> One of my friends here at college is a Microsoft fanboy and has been
> raving about C# to me. I like some of its features and syntax better
> than Java.
> 
> C# and .Net are apparently part of the ECMA standard, and the Mono
> project gives them support in Linux and Mac OS. Is there any lingering
> "evil" on C#? Any reason I shouldn't use it on a new project?
> 
> The only reason I can see is that it is (much) less likely that someone
> will have Mono installed than the JVM.
> 
> -Logan

I'm pretty sure the most common objection is that many interpret the
situation in such a way that allows Microsoft to eventually charge
royalties for C#/CLI implementations.

ECMA requires that companies whose technologies have become ECMA
standards license their technologies under reasonable and
non-descriminatory (RAND) terms. The community reaction has been that
what is RAND for a corporate licensee may not be so reasonable for a
work intended to be Free. It is generally considered reasonable, for
instance, to charge royalties for distribution of technologies based on
ECMA standard.

Microsoft has hinted strongly that they won't be charging any such fees,
but the community reaction (shared by Red Hat) has largely been one of
mistrust. There is reluctance to adopt C# without a clear and binding
statement from Microsoft allowing for Free (especially GPL or LGPL)
redistribution of their related technologies.

A search involving a subset of {Microsoft, Red Hat, Mono, ECMA, RAND}
may provide additional direction.

Chet