Looking Ahead: GNOME Desktop a Windows Implementation for the Linux Kernel?

Quoting:I fail to see how. Why would a small change in .Net is going to impact its developers but not Mono developers? If MS made a change, what assurance do you have, or on what basis do guarantee that Mon compatibility is going to stay healthy?

It will affect developers that use mono to the same extent that it affects Developers that use .NET, but in the case of Mono, only to the extent that it's necessary that the application run on Windows under .NET. In the case of developers who use .NET running on Windows is of paramount importance.

In so far as it affects Mono itself it would be negligible, and only to the extent that it required changes to the way in which Mono hooks to the underlying Linux libraries.

@Tracyanne,

I am no expert on Silverlight, .Net & Java, but this might be a good read you might be interested in

About Silverlight http://developers.slashdot.org/developers/07/09/05/1442254.s...

About Java & .Net http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=288641&thresh...

Enjoy

I've known about Microsoft support for Linux with Silverlight for some time. My Boss was at the Microsoft Tech Ed, and they admitted they would support Linux with Silver light - they weren't allowed to say so publiclly at Tech Ed for some obscure reason. But the Linux support will be via Moonlight, that's why they published the source for Silverlight under their Permissive license - the same one they are trying for OSI approval with.

BTW, you are all aware that Java has a similar, and already cross platform, Canvass that does what Silverlight does.

Silverlight is a fairly simple technology, it's based on XML, uses SVG formake scalable images. It's not a really big thing. It's real innovation is that it make developing quality media presentations much much simpler than Flash, and in the .NET (and soon Mono) space makes it possible to easily program against it using whatever language you are familiar with, so you can create rich client server applications much more easily than you can with Flash. My understanding of the Canvass functionality in Java is that this too makes that sort of thing considerably easier.

Moonlight uses the Cairo libraies to do it's magic.

The problem with SilverLight and MoonLight is that all the required media codecs will only be supplied in binary form and are only licensed to run in a browser (and only Firefox and Konqueror are supported). Also, they cannot be redistributed so we'll have to fetch those directly from Microsoft or Novell.

So what are you saying tracyanne? That not everyone who works at Microsoft is a rapacious, evil asshat who can't go a day without scorching earth, eating kittens, and robbing widows? That Microsoft actually produces a bit of useful code every so often?

I just don't believe it.

;)

(and only Firefox and Konqueror are supported).

I think that Microsoft claims all browsers are supported, including Opera.

Quoting:It's real innovation is that it make developing quality media presentations much much simpler than Flash

Which Flash release you are comparing it with? Not the latest one that is still in beta, is it?

It might be good to wait and see what new Flash will be like.

Quoting:Also, they cannot be redistributed so we'll have to fetch those directly from Microsoft or Novell.

And, from what I understood, you have to be running Moonlight on Linux, which Novell will be distributing to all major Linux vendors. No mention of a license or cost. Makes me wonder what is involved.

Quoting:It's not a really big thing

Not yet, but will be. MS sees where application technology is heading, supporting AJAX should give us a hit or two. This is not going to be for media and advertising only, it will be the technology and tools for building Internet/Enterprise browser based applications. Desktop based applications will be shrinking fast. MS see that coming form Adobe new Flash and Sun Canvas.

Quoting:Which Flash release you are comparing it with? Not the latest one that is still in beta, is it?

I expect not.

Quoting:Microsoft actually produces a bit of useful code every so often?

From time to time.

What I think we are seeing here is Microsoft trying to keep their options open. I'm sure they have a better idea of the uptake of Linux on the desktop than we do, and want make money off of that uptake. They wouldn't be where they are today if they couldn't read the tea leaves. The fact that Microsoft's management is a bunch slime doesn't make them bad business people.

Quoting:(and only Firefox and Konqueror are supported).

I think that Microsoft claims all browsers are supported, including Opera.

From Miguel de Icaza's mount: http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=1698

Quoting:Moonlight will run on all Linux distributions and support FireFox, Konqueror, and Opera browsers.

I didn't count Opera because it's not an open source browser. But people using Epiphany or SeaMonkey are out of luck.

Quoting:Novell will implement Silverlight 1.0 and 1.1 and will distribute it for the major Linux distributions at the time of the shipment.

Only to major distro's? What about the hundreds of smaller distro's? They don't get to play with Moonlihght?

Quoting:Microsoft will make the codecs for video and audio available to users of Moonlight from their web site. The codecs will be binary codecs, and they will only be licensed for use with Moonlight on a web browser (sorry, those are the rules for the Media codecs).

Novell will ship it, but sans audio/video codecs. You'll have to politely go ask Microsoft if you can have them.

I smell another lock-in tactic here. Make all but a few major distro's irrelevant and make whatever remains depend on Microsoft. Well, they can [removed for TOS violation]!

{quote]But people using Epiphany or SeaMonkey are out of luck.{/quote]

No.

No? Got linkage?

Epipany uses the firefox rendering engine, as does SeaMonkey.

That doesn't necessarily mean that the plugins are compatible IIRC.

RE: Silver/Moonlight and the announced support... my opinion as posted in another thread: http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/25961/

>Only to major distro's? What about the hundreds of smaller distro's? They don't get to play with Moonlihght?.

You know how ridiculous that statement is. Why are you making it? Not only does nobody package anything for all of the distributions, but there is no way to prevent a program that works on SuSE from working on Fred's Fine Linux if Fred has included the appropriate dependencies.

Ah, so recompiling distro repositories is done just for fun, and not because of ABI incompatibilities.

But lets wait until the blasted thing gets released, shall we :-)

>Ah, so recompiling distro repositories is done just for fun, and not because of ABI incompatibilities.

Excuse me? What the heck are you talking about?

Personally, I think you've got a bad case of Microsoft-itis. It is typified by applying every annoyance found in the world of Linux and applying it to Microsoft as if free software were otherwise Nirvana.

It just ain't so.