I'd say what is more naive than expecting Microsoft to play fair, is to expect Microsoft products to vanish is the open source community roles over and plays dead. The fact of the matter is that a majority of users are not aware of the open source movement, and a majority of developers and other IT related professionals are still not really interested in the open source movement.

Mono and other similar technology provide developers, previously uninterested in the open source community, a community that is open. From my experience, once professionals have experienced the difference, they become advocates that extend the community. It is much easier to show people solutions that are similar to what they currently do, than it is to show people a completely new way of thinking.

Corporations play the same way, Microsoft has noticed the open source movement as more than a passing fad. It is competition for almost every aspect of their business, so they are starting to get involved.

Develop a sense of humor already. :) In accordance with the author's remarks, I still have the bias against Mono, mainly because it's built on M$-based technology. Miguel de Icaza may be an incredibly smart guy, but the fact that he and Novell, the company he works for is allied with M$, I'll probably be biased against it until I'm dead. Free or not, I will not run Mono. I will do my best to not support companies that don't support free software, or support it simply to embrace, extend, and extinguish it, or ally with those who would.

.And the fact that Miguel bundled mono with gnome is similar to what they do when they bundle adware and spyware with free stuff.

Mono is a Free Open Source Project licensed under the GPL (LGPL), it has nothing in common with adware and spyware. You really have no idea what you are talking about.

And the fact that Miguel bundled mono with gnome is similar to what they do when they bundle adware and spyware with free stuff.

Mono is a Free Open Source Project licensed under the GPL (LGPL), it has nothing in common with adware and spyware. You really have no idea what you are talking about.

There is no Microsoft "IP"

We come in peace. [zap! zap!] We are your friends. [zap!] There is no Microsoft "IP". [sue! sue!]

(With apologies to "Mars Attacks!")

Microsoft will not respect the GPL and have already taken steps to attack it and undermine it, some of which have backfired. The GPL alone will not protect you or your product from Microsoft, though the GPL and some expensive litigation might slow Microsoft down just a bit. (It has been more than two years and that RedHat guy is still eating primo food and not out of a dumpster as planned.)

Contract? Agreement? Microsoft has demonstrated again and again that they cannot be trusted as a business partner and they are more than willing to throw a contract under the bus. Contracts are what Microsoft uses against business partners. Trusting Microsoft to respect and uphold the publicized intent of the Novell agreement is foolish; they already disagree about it. Look at their past performance with other agreements with other business partners. Trusting Microsoft to not infiltrate Linux-based C# technology with actionable intellectual property is also foolish. If they can find a way they will. I'll hate to see good folks get used when (not if) Microsoft swoops in with the lawyers.

There is no moral component to Microsoft. It is a legal fiction whose manifestation in reality is an un-repenting multiply-offending and largely unpunished abusive monopoly. No person should have any expectation that this particular incorporation should behave in any manner than as it has.

The government will not help you. The government will not protect you and your product from Microsoft. Do not expect the government to improve the patent system or copyright law as it applies to software. Microsoft has government action covered between lobbying, WGA and encryption keys for LEA's and other agencies. The government may not punish Microsoft after they crush a company using their monopoly, and the government cannot prevent Microsoft from crushing a company; they only step in once there is a body.

Microsoft is not any more evil then a rattle snake, or a black hole. It is functioning as it has since its inception. Based on its past behavior and trajectory, the skeptics are correct in their advice to decline the invitation to its gravity well and snake den. Microsoft today is just more Microsoft: they innovate with marketing and lawyers. They have gained so much mass and momentum that they soak up technological innovation and crush it, from Companies like Novell which cannot maneuver out of the way. Using C# is moving in closer to get a better look, pet the snake, give it a good squeeze and feel the gravity well. The audience shouts "Stay away! Send a probe! Red Shirt!"

Relax. It's just business. Software has no merit other than solving a problem. Taking it so personally just adds to Ballmer's and Gate's and few other folks' personal enjoyment. Your screams of terror are merely special sauce on the inevitable next meal.

good subject. thanks.