Summary: Further explanations about the dangerous nature of Mono and Microsoft's relationship with GNU/Linux

THERE IS abundant evidence that Mono is a Microsoft Trojan and more recently it was also co-developed directly by Microsoft, which removed doubts about it being beneficial to Microsoft rather than a competitive risk to the patent bully which breaks the law routinely and changes the law to illegalise the competition. Dana Blankenhorn wrote about Microsoft and Wikileaks at the end of last month, stating:

But what about big business lies, like the one about Microsoft caring about Linux and open source on behalf of customers (as opposed to profit)? We know it’s not true.

Whether we think it acts defensively regarding Linux (as I do) or offensively (as some talkbacks will say below) everyone knows Linux is a threat to Microsoft and that the company has to respond.

People who say that Microsoft can be a friend of Linux sometimes turn out to be former Microsoft employees, people whose work complements Microsoft's, or people who couldn't care less about GNU/Linux and just want to be portrayed as peacemakers. "People. Can’t Live With Them. Can’t Shoot Them. ARGH!" That's the title of Wayne Borean's latest blog post which accompanies this fairly well-researched article on Mono and why it is wrong to promote it as some people do.

Mono, the Open Source implementation of Microsoft’s .NET programming environment (the Common Language Infrastructure) , has probably caused more page views, than any other programming environment. Ever.

There’s a variety of issues people have had with Mono, but almost everyone has missed the main point. Who In Their Right Mind Would Want Microsoft Technology On Their Linux Operating System Computer?

Stop. Think. Why do most people dump Windows for Linux? Is it because:

1) They are true believers in software freedom?

2) They think that a Unix style operating system is superior?

3) Because they think that Windows is a total piece of crap?

Most people will pick number 3. That’s why I switched. That’s why I absolutely refuse to help out friends who run Windows anymore. If they want to run Windows after I’ve warned them about the issues (virii, security holes, etc.) then as far as I’m concerned they can take the computer to Geek squad. I refuse to fix it.

When I switched to Ubuntu, I was ecstatic that I wouldn’t have to put up with Microsoft, ever again.

And then I got a total shock. I found out that some idiot (this is my feelings at the time) had decided to import Microsoft technology into Linux. I was furious.

Just think. I’d done a lot of work getting my laptop running fully with Ubuntu 7.04, the biggest problem being the Broadcom wireless card, all to escape from Microsoft. And about a year after I’d made the switch, I find out that I haven’t escaped from Microsoft after all, because some idiot had decided it would be a nice idea to if programmers used to working with Microsoft C# had the same thing available to them on Linux.

We already know from a Microsoft employee that Microsoft encourages its TEs (paid AstroTurfers) "to stay away from supporting Mono in public [because] they [Microsoft] reserve the right to sue" and Microsoft confirmed this last year when it put legal boundaries started suing companies for using Linux (or Microsoft APIs in Linux, e.g. FAT). We will soon show new evidence that Microsoft intends to litigate with patents even more in the near futuere. Mono gives them many convenient targets. ⬆