Here
is my guess:
Based
on your requirements, It might be able to run in a year or two on
Mono. However, here is the status of each of your components you
require:
1.
Mono works on Windows and Linux/x86 (and other environments)
2. You
can connect to Microsoft SQL Server 7/2000 databases via Mono's
System.Data.SqlClient implementation. If it is an
older
Microsoft SQL Server databases, you can connect via
Mono's System.Data.TdsClient implementation. If you right your
programs in such a way, you could use it with different database backends too
that Mono supports, such as,
MySQL,
PostgreSQL, Sybase, and ODBC.
3. VB.NET programs can run on Mono as long as you don't use the
Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll, COM/OLE/ActiveX
components, or other
Win32 specific stuff.
4.
VB.NET programs can not be built using Mono because Mono does not have
a working VB.NET compiler nor
runtime; therefore, you must use Microsoft .NET VB.NET compiler to build
your programs.
There is a Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll, vb.net compiler,
and vb.net runtime in Mono, but I don't think they are usuable right
now.
5.
Windows.Forms works on Linux on Mono via Wine; however, I don't think it can do
much at this point except simple stuff,
such as, a MessageBox. I don't know the
status of it working on Windows, but it should use the native Windows
.dlls.
If
anyone sees the above status as being incorrect, please correct
me.
Since
Windows.Forms is not at up-to-par right now, you can try creating your
applications in GTK# or QT# which are becoming quiet useful now.
GTK# works on Windows and Linux. At this point, you can create real world
applications using GTK#.
Currently, GTK# assemblies built on Linux only works on LInux, and
GTK# assemblies built on Windows only works on Windows. This is only
because the names of the underlying native libraries are hard-coded.
Hopefully, this will change in the future so a GTK# assembly can be compiled
once and run on both Windows and Linux.
The
price for Mono is free and can be used for commercial purposes
too.
However, I'm sure Ximian has some commercial support and services for
Mono too.
I'm
just curious, what kind of software will be built?
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Carl Simpson
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 3:55 PM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
Subject: [Mono-list] I got a few questions.....
I am currently running Windows 2000 on 50 PC's. I am developing new software for my company in VB.NET and winforms. I will store my data in a MS-SQL server database. As I understand it, I should be able to use your software on a Linux box to run my VB.NET software. As I see it, this would save me from having to purchase 50 copies of the next operating system @ $200 each. I should be able to run my software on a Linux box. That would be a big money saver for me. Any guess as to when your software will be ready for me to use? It said in the FAQ that this would be available commercially, any idea how much (budget purposes only)? How many zeros are we talking. Anything else I should know? My software will not be finished for at least a year and maybe two. So I am not in a huge hurry.Carl SimpsonRingside Inc.[EMAIL PROTECTED]
