Comments

• oiaohm

  2008-11-30 21:06:18

  Please take a closer look at Gnome.
  
  Take .net look at it work out what is good then http://live.gnome.org/Vala create your own language taking its best bits.
  
  This is having the side effect of all things reducing .net use.
  
  Also notice something else. To work with gnome effectively from .net you have to use gnome interfaces. Same also applies with KDE. KDE would be a worse threat. Remember nothing is a single sided sword.
  
  KDE interfaces work on Windows and Mac. So .NET developers needing cross platform end up using KDE interfaces. Then developers need speed so yes its only a matter of time before something like Vala for QT and KDE lands.
  
  Now if .Net was truly functional cross platform it would be a threat to Linux world. If it did truly perform well everywhere it also would be a threat to Linux world. Really its a bigger threat to MS developer pool.

• Needs Sunlight

  2008-12-02 10:41:24

  @oiaohm: dumb idea. .Not is already a copy of java and other pieces.
  
  Just skip the lame copies and go straight for the originals. They have years of lead over MS imitatioins.

• AlexH

  2008-12-02 10:52:09

  @Needs: (if it's really the usual 'Needs Sunlight'....)
  
  Vala is actually an excellent idea. It brings the high-level language features which GNOME desperately needs, but doesn't change any of the dependencies.

• Roy Schestowitz

  2008-12-02 11:01:20

  How is Vala better than Java?

• AlexH

  2008-12-02 11:36:57

  @Roy: it integrates into the GObject framework without importing its own, and it doesn't introduce new dependencies - it actually compiles into native code like any other C app.
  
  So it gives the developer the higher-level tools without requiring them to change their libraries, etc. In fact, with GObject-introspection, you'd get a library interface which is almost as good as .net's (which, arguably, has the most advanced interface of any system currently in use) - you wouldn't even need to write language bindings for it.

• Roy Schestowitz

  2008-12-02 12:14:03

  I don't think that's the issue discussed. Again, what about Java?

• AlexH

  2008-12-02 12:30:31

  What about it? To use it, you have to change the libraries you're building on, and your app suddenly grows Java dependencies.
  
  Even if you go the gcj route you grow a couple of deps, and if you're dependent on libraries which aren't bound you have to either write your own binding or beg someone else to do it: things like JNI are notoriously difficult to program.