Microsoft makes .NET open source

LiquidAurum · 2014-11-13 15:20:22

This I feel is big news, I'm not a programmer (yet ) but I can tell this is huge, I don't know of any other thing MS has ever released open source. They also released Visual Studio Community 2013 (new version of 2013) for free as well. What do you guys think of this announcement?

nomorewindows · 2014-11-13 15:43:23

One of the newswires calls it open white washing. M$ does have some ties with SuSe, and in the Enterprise versions of Windows includes some connectivity to *Nix, but primarily with Suse. If it just so happens to work with your distribution, you're lucky. M$ also has the Academic Alliance that pretty much does the same thing. And just what does VSC2013 include? RMS would stress that FSF and Open Source have technically different missions.

Last edited by nomorewindows (2014-11-13 15:44:28)

ewaller · 2014-11-13 16:03:24

I had seen this on Slashdot yesterday and wondered how long it would take to find its way to these shores. This could be interesting, but please remember to keep the discussion civil. Many of us have seen Microsoft do things of which we don't approve and they do have a well deserved reputation for tactics whereby they deliberately corrupt public standards (and standards committees) to make things difficult for both their competition and "partners"

On the other hand, Microsoft has a new man at the helm. They are also major contributors to the Linux kernel. I think it is safe to say that .Net will not be GPL3. I've not read the documents as yet, but I'll bet the licence is more along the lines of the MIT license.

Regardless, I think I'll take a wait and see approach. Personally, I am not a fan of manged code and plan to stick to C for anything serious. C bindings to .Net are awkward. Maybe Python.Net? We'll see....

Scimmia · 2014-11-13 16:36:38

It's kind-of big news, but really it's something that's been happening for months, so it's not really news.

Also note that what they're switching to the MIT license at this point is only the server version of the framework (what they're calling core). There is no GUI components, so this doesn't really affect much for desktop users.

IMO, the "Community Edition" is bigger news.

Last edited by Scimmia (2014-11-13 16:37:44)

drcouzelis · 2014-11-13 16:59:38

It reminds me of my experience with Mono a year or two ago.

I was looking for a lighter alternative to the GIMP. Then I discovered Pinta. It was fast, easy, powerful, and pretty. Then I realized, "Awwwww, it uses Mono."

...And then I realized I was being an idiot. I had found an application that perfectly suited my needs. So what how it was made? C# is just a language. Mono is just another free and open source library. And I certainly didn't care about *gasp dozens of MB needed to install it. So, I stopped being an idiot and enjoyed using Pinta. The end.

...And THEN many months later I switched to Krita because it's amazing.

Lone_Wolf · 2014-11-14 12:54:14

ewaller wrote:

Maybe Python.Net? We'll see....

This might interest you then : http://ironpython.net/

While i find .Net a monstrosity (i help some people running Windows systems, and problems they have are often caused by .Net applications), i think this is good news.

They choose a license (MIT) that is OSI-approved, that is abig step for them.
I also like they may no longer be trying to create their own separate community platform (Codeplex et al), but instead try to become part of the greater OSS community by using github to host the code.

Steef435 · 2014-11-15 00:52:10

So, can I expect Microsoft's Office suite running smoothly in a month? :)

I'm skeptical so far, I don't think I'm seeing the big picture. What's next, DirectX cross-platform and open source? Losing their monopoly will only cost them as far as I can tell.

Last edited by Steef435 (2014-11-15 00:52:45)

drcouzelis · 2014-11-15 01:28:55

Steef435 wrote:

I'm skeptical so far, I don't think I'm seeing the big picture.

In my opinion, the more people use Microsoft products (on any operating system) then the more people will:

Buy tools from Microsoft to work with those products.
Use those products to access Microsoft hosted servers, providing them with whatever it is companies want when they collect a lot of information on people.

CSCoder4ever · 2014-11-15 02:47:32

Interesting stuff, I wonder if this means Visual Studio for linux, even though they're helping mono out as well.

nomorewindows · 2014-11-15 09:29:03

I guess we could wine about it, since that enables us to run non-mono applications. They're already getting pretty good at making most applications work with it. Where will mono and wine meet?

blackout23 · 2014-11-18 12:01:06

What I would hope for is that we get the GUI Toolkit on Linux somehow. Tons of applications like finanical planning software (Quicken, Taxman) use .NET and there is no real open alternative. Don't even mention GNUCash... Stuff like Quicken binds millions of small business and indiviudals to Windows. Getting those on Linux would be probably an even bigger deal than Steam.

clfarron4 · 2014-11-18 12:15:51

blackout23 wrote:

What I would hope for is that we get the GUI Toolkit on Linux somehow. Tons of applications like finanical planning software (Quicken, Taxman) use .NET and there is no real open alternative. Don't even mention GNUCash... Stuff like Quicken binds millions of small business and indiviudals to Windows. Getting those on Linux would be probably an even bigger deal than Steam.

I'm another supporter of this

I wonder what will happen when C# (the only language I properly understand) hits Linux

Trent · 2014-11-18 13:53:12

CSCoder4ever wrote:

Interesting stuff, I wonder if this means Visual Studio for linux, even though they're helping mono out as well.

That would be a logical next step, especially in light of their sweeping statements regarding cross-platform development. I don't doubt VS on Linux is on somebody's roadmap.

It does seem a bit like a "Don't leave baby, I can change" move. But maybe that's not being quite fair; Microsoft is a different company without Ballmer. Probably has more chairs, too. I think it remains to be seen whether this indicates a new focus on growing the pond, or is just another way to out-compete the little fish.

LiquidAurum · 2014-11-18 14:36:43

clfarron4 wrote:

I wonder what will happen when C# (the only language I properly understand) hits Linux

Is this a prediction or confirmed?

clfarron4 · 2014-11-18 14:49:57

LiquidAurum wrote:

clfarron4 wrote:
I wonder what will happen when C# (the only language I properly understand) hits Linux
Is this a prediction or confirmed?

Should have used the word IF instead of WHEN XD

LiquidAurum · 2014-11-18 15:03:37

Oh, started to get really excited

Arch Linux

#1 2014-11-13 15:20:22

Microsoft makes .NET open source

#2 2014-11-13 15:43:23

Re: Microsoft makes .NET open source

#3 2014-11-13 16:03:24

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#4 2014-11-13 16:36:38

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#6 2014-11-14 12:54:14

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