Silverlight for Linux hits with Microsoft punch

Quoting:Why not do a clean room implementation of moonlight without any ms cruft something we will all know is clear of ms fud and while we are at it write it so we dont need mono

For us end users that'd be nice. However, it consolidates the Silverlight-platform, therefore creating a platform lock-in even amongst Linux users.

Now, a lot of Linux-users value their freedom and would rather not be dependent on a Microsoft (or Adobe for that part) platform. One simple reason is because any reverse engineered version will always lag behind the versions of Microsoft (or Adobe); and therefore Silverlight-support on Windows will always be better. That would be the reason that people continue to use Windows, and that's the only reason Microsoft did its best for Linux: To create a platform-lockin. This is done so developers only develop for that platform and don't have time and don't take the effort to learn another platform, and because that platform only works well on Windows eventually everyone still needs Windows. I'm afraid a reverse-engineered version only helps Microsoft here and makes all of us more platform-dependent, just like MONO did.

Appart from it, if Flash or Silverlight use any kind of encryption, cleanroom reverse engineering is at least against US law DMC and it might be against some European laws to (EUCD), I'm not sure for other parts of the world.

So it would be nice, but it would consolidate Microsoft's market share of both Windows and its platforms.

By the way, Moonlight can never be fully GPL'ed because if it contains the Windows codec-packs, those can _never_ be 'fully GPL'ed' because Microsoft doesn't have copyright on them and doesn't own the patents on these codecs. Providing licenses on those codecs for free for Linux-users sure is a sign how they (and especially: Some other big companies) are afraid of open standards, and only by creating a platform lockin parallel to the vendor lockin of Windows they are able to make sure people will stay dependent on those patent-minefield codecs.

Quoting:that being said what i would like to do is find a project that would thwart this m$ lock in attempt but i havent found "the one"

The lack of an alternative is born also because of - surprise - the existing network effects and platform lockin. Everybody wants Flash and Silverlight, so therefore using/developing Moonlight/Gnash is probably the logical thing to do.

However, it requires far less efforts to write something from scratch than to reverse-engineer something and let another team write something limited by the docs of the reverse engineers.

Basically, there's no good alternative I'm afraid. I'm complaining with empty hands; nothing to give. People don't listen to those with empty hands, that's for sure, and I can't blame them because they're right. What makes me sad however is to see lots of efforts are spend to consolidate the MS / Adobe platform lockin, because for the end users who are wanting a free platform that time could have been spent better. So, coming back to the question:

Quoting:what would you suggest as an alternative that developers, consumer,and corps will use

Probably, at this moment there isn't an alternative they can use, they'd have to develop an alternative. I'm painfully aware this is rather utpopian and may not bee that realistic. However, quite the same problem was true for streaming media formats: The BBC couldn't choose an alternative, and therefore decided to develop their own, which became Dirac. In our country, the NOS (You could say: Dutch BBC, except for that it's not) uses Silverlight. It would be a good thing if they - together with other public broadcasting companies could make a free alternative.

At this moment, it doesn't bring you an alternative solution however, so it's nothing that brings you any further at this moment, for which I'm sorry. It's only an idealistic view of how the world should be, and reaching that is at this moment done via political ways: Telling aunt Neelie that the Dutch public broadcasting company is helping to consolidate a MS-platform lockin (not much see can do about it, but just making sure she knows), telling Dutch politicians about how NOS is contributing to this, and so on.