Getting mono into FC extras

[Paul]

Hi,

I've taken the time to read over the reasoning behind not allowing (yet)
Mono into FC Extras, but I have a bit of a problem with it.

On the devel list, I was pointed to a website which gave some reasons (I
did giggle though at the $600 per CPU if by some miracle SCO actually
manage to dupe the judge and win).

I've asked around and had this back from a friend at Verison. Obviously,
it's not a legal POV, but it may add something to the argument.

8--->
It is called a defensive patent to keep companies from suing Microsoft 
with a patent of their own.  I would be more worried about Sun and Java 
because Sun has sued and won over its Java platform.  Or worry about 
companies like SCO and Kodak before I worry about Microsoft.

Kodak has sued both Microsoft and Sun over patents.  It was Wang Labs 
(which was later bought by Kodak) and sued Microsoft over OLE.  And 
later Kodak sued Sun over Java.  Well, they were settled, but still, in 
my book that amounts to winning/loosing.  Even though Sun had a ton of 
prior art, they still lost due to a very biased jury.  The jury was 
biased because it was held in Rochester, New York (?).  The same place 
where Kodak is one of the few big employers there.

So, are you still buying products from companies like Kodak and Sun
with 
their warchest of patents?  There are plenty of other companies over 
patents all the time.  It is situation that is getting worse.

Every piece of software you write no matter what language or platform 
could be potentially infringing a patent.  Patents are a drain on our 
economy and diminishes our properity.
<---8

And then this from someone over in the lair of the dark one

8--->
This message explains that there is no problem to use MS patents to
implement CLI / C# standards : licence is free for this particular use.

So there is definitively NO MS patents problem with Mono.

Ask them for IBM or Sun patents, especially on Eclipse or Java
technologies, just for fun.

It seems that Red Hat wants to adopt Java and doesn't like Novell
technologies, but i really don't know why :-)
<---8

Can we please allow Mono in? It would be one hell of a boon to the
distro. If SuSE can bundle it, why can't we?

Given the nature of the beast though, can I take it that portable.NET
and gnu.NET won't be allowed in for exactly the same reasons?

TTFN

Paul
-- 
"It is often said that something cannot be libel if it is the truth.
This has had to be amended to 'something cannot be libel if it is the
truth or if the bank balance says otherwise'" - US Today
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-extras-list/attachments/20050319/26ddf576/attachment.sig>