Mono, Mono, Mono... What to Do About Mono?

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2008-02-21 02:51:04 UTC
Modified: 2008-02-21 02:51:04 UTC

A few days ago we published an analysis of Mono in Ubuntu. That post has been viewed close to 6,000 times so far and it generated ongoing discussions such as this one in LXer. Some people attack the messenger and others appear to make incorrect assertions. Among my latest observations:

Mono comes in separate forms depending on what's covered and documented and what's not, IIRC. There are bits that are bound to come under scrutiny, shall one want to scrutinise them. The Mono project divided them up recently.

[...]

Have you seen the Novell contract (redacted) with Microsoft? Have a look. See how it treats Mono and WinE. Then, look at the Linspire and Xandros ones. Not the same. Not a coincidence, in my humble opinion.

People would be wise to refrain from attacking individuals and suggesting that I spread FUD (against Linux). Those who know my activities on the Web would laugh at the idea of me spreading FUD against Linux, so such accusations take us nowhere.

A few hours ago, the following analysis of Debian GNU/Linux "Lenny" came up. Let this quote do its thing:

Simple mental exercise: Identify the OS!

[...]

mono\gac\System.ServiceProcess\2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.ServiceProcess.dll mono\gac\System.Transactions\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Transactions.dll mono\gac\System.Web.Services\2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.Web.Services.dll mono\gac\System.Web\2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a\System.Web.dll mono\gac\System.Xml\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.Xml.dll mono\gac\System\2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089\System.dll

Hint: Replace the backslashes with slashes, then prefix each path with /usr/lib/.

The correct answer is: no, it's not Microsoft Windows, it's Debian GNU/Linux "Lenny" (testing), with the minimum dependencies needed to run F-Spot! (Actually, I guess that all not the files are needed, but this is how they package them, and how the dependencies are set.)

Is this the future of GNU/Linux and the Free Desktop? Need something be done to address this? ⬆

A bad penguin -- Novell
Novell's idea of Linux (Mono is a Novell project and it supports MSOOXML)

GNU/Linux Measured at All-Time High in Sweden: Can 'influencers' have played a role
GNU/Linux Becoming More Universal: It seems likely the end of Vista 10 coinciding with a sharp rise in memory prices (and now energy prices) will benefit GNU/Linux and therefore give us more to write about
Can Economies Like the American One Hang On?: The coming weeks will be "interesting" unless wars end
Gemini Links 03/04/2026: "Slide Rule Triple Multiplication" and End of "Picture Pages": Links for the day
Rumours of Microsoft Layoffs This Season: Just how much trouble is Microsoft in at this point?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 31 Out of 200: Speaking About 20+ Years of Alleged Harassment/Defamation and High-Profile 'Targets' of Garrett: attempts were made to settle (in effect end the case) by the person who started the case almost half a dozen times along the way
In Asia, Windows is in Its Teens (Below 20%): On a global scale, Windows is down to about 26%
Low Morale at IBM and Perception of Destructive Management: IBM is going nowhere, fast
Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Super Mario Galaxy Movie and New Antenna Instance: Links for the day
It Seems Like Google News Cracked Down on (Omitted, Delisted) a Lot of Slopfarms: There's no justification/point in spending so much energy just to plagiarise things poorly
Steam Survey for Last Month Says 5.33% Use GNU/Linux: big leap for GNU/Linux
Links 02/04/2026: Science News, Energy Scarcity, Oil Sold in Yuan: Links for the day
Links 02/04/2026: Apple Turns 50, Efforts To Ban VPNs: Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2026: Kubernetes With FreeBSD, OFFLFIRSOCH, and Great Circle Distance: Links for the day
Dr. Andy Farnell on Microsoft Silencing or Deplatforming Opposition in the UK and Elsewhere: Microsoft as a king or a kind of "religion" one cannot question
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 01, 2026: IRC logs for Wednesday, April 01, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 30 Out of 200: The Time We Reported Abuse to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and It Was Escalated to Its Cybercrime Unit: he started trolling and harassing me for criticising his employers' monopolistic and users-hostile agenda
'Modern' Cars Not a Rosy Industry: The current "modern" cars already have a shelf life similar to that of many toothpastes
Wrongthink Detector and Filter in "Think About the Children" Clothing: It is not about "age verification", it's a Trojan horse for social control
IBM Facilities Now Deemed Legitimate (Military) Target, Along With GAFAM Bases: Does IBM have any defences in place to protect against "downtime by explosions"?
What Happens When Some Large News Sites Turn to Slop and Spew Out Nonsense: LLM slop makes such grotesque mistakes abundant
Hardly Seeing Slopfarms Today, Even in Google News: Google's adventures with slop increased its debt significantly
Links 01/04/2026: Quantum Hype (Turing and Google), "US Fuel Prices Surge Past $4 a Gallon": Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2026: "Sacred Week of Cycling" and Zenity for Scripts: Links for the day
Losing Debian: Sruthi Chandran election flop: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
French judgment: parasitisme by FSFE & Matthias Kirschner (CO23.002709): Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Microsoft Uses April Fools to 'Joke' About Inserting "Age Verification" (Surveillance) Into Linux: MinceR says the "lkml [message/page] one is April Fools or at least they're trying to pass it off as April Fools [however] the [GitHub] one was archived on the 8th and yesterday, so that probably isn't..."
IBM "Headcount Reductions" by Early Retirement and Death: The tragedy at IBM started 33 years ago on the first of April
Red Hat: Latin-1 character set under threat from Bishop Michael Martin, North Carolina: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 01/04/2026: Microsoft GitHub Now Pushing Ads Into People's Code/Commits, Earth Overshoot Day Draws Nearer: Links for the day
What IBM and EPO Workers Have in Common: European Media Not Covering Very Major News (Press Became Dysfunctional): Are IBM operatives working to scuttle the process of investigative journalism?
Free Speech in the United Kingdom When "Chilling Effect" is Increasingly Prevalent: If politicians cannot even use a term like "parasitic behaviour", then where do we as a society end up?
Oracle Lays Off Because of Debt and Commercial Issues, Not Slop: Like Scam Altman, Larry Ellison hangs around Cheeto King because he could use some bailouts in the form of government contracts or phony money with an incredible name like "Stargate"
The Real Reason Many Sites and Forums Shun Microsoft Lunduke: When forums say that they banned Microsoft Lunduke or don't want him mentioned it's probably because they are familiar with the "stench" that follows him around
Gemini Links 01/04/2026: Hallucinations, Stitching, and Type Systems: Links for the day
Lots of Layoffs at IBM, "Media Blackout" About Mass Layoffs at IBM's HashiCorp and Confluent Last Month: IBM is a dying company circling down the drain while manipulating or paying the media to pretend everything is fine
Microsoft Under Investigation by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for Abusive Tactics: What's noteworthy is that this is "set to begin in May"
Sounds Like Red Hat (IBM) Layoffs in Slop Clothing: This is an IBM policy. They try to justify staff cuts.
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 31, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Mono, Mono, Mono... What to Do About Mono?

Simple mental exercise: Identify the OS!

Recent Techrights' Posts