Bonum Certa Men Certa

Change Happens (Consensus Regarding Mono)

Coins in hand



Summary: How the perception around Mono in GNU/Linux has changed despite bullying and because of persistence with the truth

REAL change is hard to bring about. When companies pour millions into marketing, it is usually them who get to determine public perception, which is a multi-trillion-dollar business. Here at "Boycott Novell" (we have broadened our scope under the Techrights umbrella) we have worked for over 4 years to persuade people to see through the fog and discard PR messages. To a large degree we succeeded and now more than ever people are fed up with Novell and the pet Microsoft projects it fosters, notably but not exclusively Mono and Moonlight.



This morning and afternoon I had some engaging talks with friends to whom less conformist views are easier to absorb (harder to do with adult generations above me as I'm in my twenties). After about 3 hours of talking it emerged that the greatest danger is that younger generations will fail to learn critical thinking. Schools teach them to obey conventional thought and sometimes learn how to learn; but they are state-funded precisely because they define a boundary within which one's permissive views must stay. Indoctrination serves those in power. This is why questioning some of the pillars of modern society would seem dubious to discouraging peers and marginalisation of rights is assured to carry on this way. The relevance of this long discussion to Techrights (there were similar talks on our site recently, e.g. in IRC) is that Web sites like Groklaw, which are mostly aligned with our side, begin to admit that some of the aspects of Techrights they once criticised were actually on target all along. There needn't be an explicit admission as it is there between the lines. Techrights got a lot of flak for daring to say the 'unsayable' at times, but 4 years later more and more sites normalise -- so to speak -- what we have been arguing ahead of the times. Some of history's worst regimes were also resisted and had people warn about them long before they were rogue to the extent that their abuse of power became irreversible and any critic/dissident fled or was imprisoned, sometimes assassinated. Being progressive is not being angry. I am not angry. I rarely even raise my voice. Techrights is an educational resource, not a rant site.

“Being progressive is not being angry.”The point of the matter is, here at Techrights we always strive to politely express opinions which many people hold within themselves for fear of backlash or retaliation. We attract many readers but not as many comments (because a lot of people choose to read the site silently). This need not be the case and it never helps when people from the outside create a monster-like image of the messenger/platform, always neglecting to challenge the actual message or its accuracy.

A long time ago we got criticised for criticising Monodroid, which is an attempt to bring .NET mentality to Android. It seems like the dominant mobile platform to be, but Mono boosters hope to 'reform' it [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. As we shall cover in posts later this week, Microsoft attacks Android with patents from several angles (at least 3 now). The last thing Android needs right now is an underlying framework (for applications to depend upon) which is clearly a patent problem, according to Microsoft.

One of our success stories -- if we dare take just a little bit of credit for it -- is that we helped popularise the understanding that Mono is trouble. It is trouble because over the past few years we got more and more evidence (even from Microsoft itself) that Mono promotes the Microsoft APIs, which also happen to be somewhat of a patent bait. Microsoft supports Mono, it doesn't quite compete against it.

“As we shall cover in posts later this week, Microsoft attacks Android with patents from several angles (at least 3 now).”Mobile platforms are the future in an increasing number of areas. As the differences between mobiles and desktops continue to blur (e.g. tablets), there is increased likelihood that Vista 7 (or any hype du jour) will start dropping in terms of installed base. Linux is the most viable replacement, but do not expect it to be branded "Linux" anymore. The branding does not matter so much (it is also the private property of a person), is it the software freedom that usually accompanies it which matters. Threatening the freedom of the platforms, we always have software patents, which are means of using new laws/bureaucracy to crush a competitor.

Microsoft MVP Miguel de Icaza has just advertised "Mono for Android" and we are pleased to find among the news headlines a very reasonable response to it. One news site says that the "Mono Trojan Released To Attack Android" right there in the headline. The Mono boosters won't like it. As the article puts it: "Mono on Android is a major threat. Android developers should stay away from using any tool which locks them into Microsoft's technologies."

We do expect AttachMSFT (or Microsoftmate or Attackmate) to continue promoting this. If not, Microsoft will find a 'foster home' for it. It's in Microsoft's interests.

The bottom line is, news sites too express skepticism if not outright disdain when it comes to Mono. So progress is being made.

Recent Techrights' Posts

What 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Could Learn From Jimmy Kimmel About the 'Streisand Effect'
Lawyering up is risky and is usually doesn't work
Purchasing Concert Tickets in 2025 in Manchester: The "Modern" Experience
I recently spent a couple of days here testing the "terrain" in order to better understand how large public venues, for concerts rather than sporting events like football, currently "work"
 
Links 26/09/2025: Hardware, Security, Health, and Nuclear Armament
Links for the day
Links 26/09/2025: "Digital Fatigue" and Slop Frenzy (Hype) Ruining Work Productivity, Culture, Languages
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Unwilling to Disclose or Explain How 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Pays for His SLAPPs Against Us (He Cannot Afford These), So We Are Escalating
Escalated in the British authorities
Linux is Replacing Apple
Apple is money down the drain. Not only are the gadgets overpriced; they cost a lot to maintain and keep going over time
"We don't have that kind of relationship with Microsoft. The only public key that every UEFI firmware is guaranteed to have is Microsoft's, and only Microsoft owns the private key."
This is how to sabotage GNU/Linux distros that Microsoft does not control
Slopwatch: linuxconfig.org, linuxsecurity.com, and Google's Promotion of the Worst and Most Prolific Slopfarms
Over in Google News it has been quite chaotic this past day
Gemini Links 26/09/2025: Reading RSS Feeds, ROOPHLOCH 202
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 25, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 25, 2025
Links 25/09/2025: More European Airports Shut Down Due to What Seems Like Russian Drones
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/09/2025: Amiga Revived and Hackers (UTF-8)
Links for the day
Links 25/09/2025: French Unions Want Another Strike, Super Typhoon Ragasa Kills Many
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Secure Boot' and Shim as Barrier or Obstacle to New GNU/Linux Users Trying to Escape Microsoft
Just as intended all along
Lovers and Haters
Always beware hate preachers and demagogues (or how they frame issues or whose fault they distract from)
Focusing on What People Have in Common Instead of Killing and Cancelling One Another
Men and women of both "wings" stand to gain a lot by working together on common interests
'Cancel Culture' Isn't About Enforcing Ethics (and It's Done by People on the Right, Not "The Leftists")
Smarter folks would leave social control media
Russia's Attack on Europe (and NATO) Will Worsen Censorship and Corruption in Europe
Can we still debate issues that predate the invasion of Crimea?
Lawyers Should Permanently Lose Their Licence (and Worse) for Using Chatbots in Legal Work
They not only waste people's money and time. They pollute the literature with falsehoods. They commit perjury. [...] Brett Wilson LLP sent the Judge nearly 1,000 pages of material (mostly mine, copied without proper permission) shortly before a short Hearing, which lasted less than an hour
GAFAM and MATA (Mythical, Metaphor) as Explained by analognowhere.com
They're instruments of suppression that sponsor the oppressor
We've Already Mentioned Who Nowadays Funds Garrett's SLAPP Against Us (Not Garrett), Let's Examine Who Sponsored His Litigation Partner (Other Than Microsoft Salaries There's a Buddy of Bill Gates)
it's alleged that the Serial Strangler from Microsoft got money from him
Florian Müller: Using Software Patents to Attack Software Developers, Agitate Against Patent Reform
He also promotes attacks on the German Constitution and laws
Reliance on Typepad Seems to Have Doomed the Voice of Software Patents and Patent Maximalists in PatentDocs
Follow the money
UEFI 'Secure Boot' is Potential Mayhem to the Environment (Older and Leaner Distros Stop Working)
creating new problems, disguised as "solutions" to problems that do not exist
Sometimes 'Cancel Culture' Backfires Badly
There's no such thing as "too much" coverage
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Links 25/09/2025: Jimmy Kimmel Returns to Air (With Limitations) and London Stansted Airport Latest to Have Incident (Fire)
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Fake Articles, SPAM With Slop, and Google News Directs People to Read Slopfarms
why does Google News insist on still linking to prolific slopfarms?
Gemini Links 25/09/2025: New Game for Gemini Protocol, Eleven, and Network Solutions Woes
Links for the day
Punching People Doesn't Work
It makes nobody any safer
Look Ma, No "Cloud"
So far this year we've had an almost perfect uptime
Links 24/09/2025: Autism Blame-Shifting and Typhoon Ragasa Enters China
Links for the day
Buying From Oneself is Not Business Success
This isn't at all a joking matter even if you already laugh at the whole thing because your pension, savings etc. are tied to this scam at some level
This is How Microsoft's XBox and Entire Consoles (If Not Gaming) Ventures Will Ultimately Die
Ensure you can blame "Tariffs" (politics)? If not "hey hi", the fashionable go-to excuse when businesses fail?
What They Really Hate David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) for
Nothing to do with code
Smart People Won't Buy 'Smart' Cars
Imagine trying to sell someone a house (proper home) while insisting that it'll need to be demolished 5 or 10 years later, then rebuilt again from scratch on the same vacant lot
The Relationship Between IBM Red Hat and Microsoft, Visualised
This metaphor goes a long way (projects, collaborations, and outsourcing
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part III - Spying on Reporters' Families, Chaining Cases for Microsoft Employees Who Demand Censorship of Facts (Even Politely Expressed)
the time seems right to wrap up this introductory series
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part II - UK SLAPPs for Americans, SLAPPs for Profit
Brett Wilson LLP has a track record of this kind
Cloudflare Gives Us All Another Reason to Boycott Cloudflare
If Cloudflare wants to use its vast surveillance network (which is what it does as a CDN) to foist paywalls and maybe something worse (like DRM on top), then Cloudflare should be more widely rejected as a company
Links 24/09/2025: "NASA Moving Out of Entire Buildings as It's Gutted" and Purge of Online Critics (Opposing Fascism Becomes Unlawful)
Links for the day
Science is Under Attack
Oligarchy prefers a dumbed-down population
Someone Expiring Certificates on the Day of the 9/11 Attacks is Not Someone I Would Want Controlling My PC (or Deciding What's Authorised for Booting)
"social justice warriors"
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has Reportedly Failed People With Wrong Advice
At the moment the SRA has a PR blunder
The Man Suing Brett Wilson LLP and Gervase de Wilde (5RB)
Now he's probably using the (almost) 200,000 pounds he's supposed to receive to sue Brett Wilson LLP and former colleagues/partners
More Microsoft-Red Hat Cross-Pollination as the Company Loses a Managing Director
some people move from Microsoft to Red Hat and some do the opposite
Slopwatch: A World Wide Web That's Rotting for Companies That Won't Even Exist in a Few Years
some of the junk Google News is promoting
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 23, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Links 24/09/2025: Qt Creator 18 Beta, Microsoft Cannot Bail Out "ChatGPT" Anymore, China and US Intensify Censorship
Links for the day