I just got done talking to some microsoft representatives today (a technology evangelist and an enterprise architect). They are by no means authorities on all business matters of Microsoft, but I was able to get a few insights. As regarding our new efforts (in Avalon) into code that works with .NET we need to look into some background and some precedures to satisfy our needs.
First, Microsoft is not necessarily anti-open source (in fact it is really anti-GPL). They either have released or will release a "CLI" version of .NET which is all public domain. The Microsoft view on licensing is essentially have a license if it is protected, or leave it completely open. The CLI version of .NET is a very much scaled down version of .NET. The thing is it will take up to two years for Microsoft to finally split out what will be patented and what isn't. Some of the issues aren't necessarily Microsoft's IP issues. They are essentially third party patents that Microsoft is using and has to respect. That is why it all takes so long.
That said, in order to avoid any legal issues, it would be best if we stayed away from any official Web Services API. Why? By the time Microsoft comes up with an official open interface along the lines of JAXP, two years will have passed. By that time, we could have a serviceable XML parser, along with an interface to access it. We would also be able to have a BCEL equivalent to generate dynamic proxies, etc.
In the very short term, we should probably create an interface and a Null implementation for certain services. For example, for the XML backed configuration files, we would use what we currently have until there is an alternative.
It is unfortunate that we have to go this route if we are going to support C#/.NET, but until we get some official standards on what is/will be available, this is the safest position. Of course one project would not be able to shoulder the burden of all these replacement technologies. If there are any projects that are interested in solving some aspect of the .NET API replacements, we should probably work together to at least identify API interfaces.
Also, as an additional resource to find out what is going on in the .NET world, I was told that http://www.gotdotnet.com/ and http://www.dotnet247.com/ were two of the best resources available.
I copied board@ and members@ to inform them of the exchange, and possibly to see who would be willing to work on some of these issues. The Avalon community cannot shoulder the entire responsibility themselves, and would be more than willing to work with other communities if there is a common interest. If not, then just let this email sink into the ether.
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