> > > Synchronizing and sharing the notes are not SaaS, though editing might > > be SaaS. So at least some of this service is basically ok, provided > > Gnote can also use it (because Tomboy's dependence on C# is a problem). > > Again, I must certainly be missing something here, but if C# represents > such > a problem in and of itself, how is it that gnu.org develops, maintains and > supports the DOTGNU project, which "aims to be for ... C# programs what > GNU/Linux is rapidly becoming for desktop and server applications"? > > Either C# is a problem or it's not, and if it is, why is there a GNU > project > to support it? If it's not, what exactly are we talking about? > (http://www.gnu.org/software/dotgnu/)
It is the same set of half truths that Richard has been spreading for a while on C#. Richard will respond that C# is a slippery slope to allow developers to use APIs that might have been patented, so it should be avoided. He has never addressed the fact that the ideas embedded in .NET APIs have been copied extensively by plenty of open source projects, beyond those that use Mono and that every one of those projects would then be in as much risk. It is not my job to point out those projects, I do not believe in fighting FUD with FUD, but any .NET expert that spends some time with a modern distribution would be able to point out ideas and APIs that were originated at Microsoft and could potentially infringe on the very same patents. C# the language, and the core .NET libraries are under a far-from-ideal "Community Promise" patent license. Sadly, this patent grant for the ideas embodied in those standards are made available by Microsoft to full implementations of C# and those core class libraries. But they are not available to third party languages. So in fact, the ECMA subset of C# and the ECMA subset of the class libraries comes with patent protection, but if people made copies of those ideas for other languages and other execution environments, they would not be protected from a potential Microsoft patent threat. Richard has sadly become very disconnected from technology so he does not understand the finer print. He relies on third parties to provide him with an analysis, and those people are sadly not well equipped, informed or are too driven by hate to provide sound advise. I could help Richard and we could work together, but he has decided that I am a traitor of the movement. So in the meantime I do what I do best: I write free software and I build it on the platform that I enjoy working the most, C# and the ECMA CLI [1] [1] Well, mostly. I also write proprietary software for proprietary platforms like the iPhone and Microsoft Visual Studio. But I have been enjoying learning new things.
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