Hi Mono and GTK# business community: A brief introduction, I am Francisco âPacoâ Martinez, a Dallas based Software Engineer by day and a Mono/GTK# enthusiast by night. I have been programming enterprise client/server and n-tier system for over 10 years now.
Like many of my colleagues, I work for a company that labels itself as a âMicrosoft Shopâ. As it turns out, there are still plenty of those in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Unless you have been under a rock for the past 2 years, you have heard plenty about Linux, Open Source and also about Microsoft .NET Framework â this is even true for a lot of my die hard Microsoft VB, Visual C++ and Visual C# code monkey friends. But don't assume that many of these folks even know what Cygwin or even Microsoft Services for Unix is. So along I come, gather people around my cube, open a browser and take them to the Mono web site. Just as I start talking about what Mono is and the fantastic possibilities of an Open Source version of the .NET Framework can bring, some one will grab my mouse and click on (http://www.go-mono.com/screenshots.html) â I am serious it happens every time I do this, and I do it at least 3 times a month. You have to understand that for the most part Windows programmers live and die by programming systems that are Web based AND USE MS SQL SERVER OR ORACLE. Sure, I just made the generalization about how they do almost exclusively Web apps and front ends but somehow they want to make their determination of how cooked Mono is based on what Windows-running-rich-client application they can see on that famous âscreenshotsâ page. Now, for the general audience that reads the Mono and GTK# mailing list, it would at best seem like and unfair barometer of the projects progress. Be it as it may, my contention is that a lot of these programmers will come along much quicker if we can bring a killer GTK# app to Windows. This application or applications that I talk about must run and compile in a Windows box WITHOUT using cygwin or MS SFU. Great news! Thanks to the great work of Dan Morgan, Rodrigo Moya, Mike Kestner and so many others in the community, we may be a lot closer than we think. Using the Windows installation packages for Mono and GTK#, coupled with sqlsharpgtk.exe, you can create the bases for a good demo platform today. I mention sqlgtksharp specifically, because every one from the DBAs to the business analyst and including programmers of all levels are familiar and may even actively use tools like MS SQL Server Query Analyzer or Oracle's SQL Plus. To top that, is just so happens that the XML, CSV and HTML export capabilities of the sqlsharpgtk are quite nice and useful in the real world! This is not to say that there are a lot of other apps -- image manipulation for web designers quickly comes to mind -- that can and should be included in both screenshots and general download availability in the context of Windows installations. I am just saying that sqlsharpgtk is there and already draws a lot of attention from Windows cultured Information workers. I take this opportunity to commend the MonoDevelop team who has done a terrific job in creating an IDE that can accommodate the style of programming that Windows developers are almost exclusively accustomed to. This is a MAYOR turn of events that will unquestionably bring about the acceptance Mono by Windows programmers and should fuel the engrossing lines of Mono developers in business applications regardless of operating systems. In the months ahead, I will continue my evangelizing role by promoting Mono in local User Groups and in any forum where myself and one or more Windows programmers may be found. I also will be taking a more active role in the development of sqlsharpgtk and other Mono/GTK# database related projects. The Idea behind this letter is to evoke thoughts and stimulate a dialog on the significance of Mono/GTK# application creation and usage on a Windows platform. Best regards to all. Francisco âPacoâ Martinez PS Todd, Jackson: How do you do it?!! _______________________________________________ Mono-list maillist - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-list
