Future Plans on Platform Expansion?

[Kasracer]

I am curious if there are any plans for VB or even the .Net framework to expand on the current platforms it runs on and if so, which ones?

If the .Net framework were to run and be available for other platforms, such as OS X and Linux, I think it would help create a huge jump in the amount of developers and applications designed for .Net.

Linux has almost half of the web servers online today, which could see a huge jump in ASP.Net applications if it were able to run them.

OS X has also been gaining ground with users so I would imagine .Net desktop applications would be a very nice additional to the operating system.

I could see where this could cause some conflict as .Net probably drives at least some sales for Windows Server but platform expansion could possibly help sell more copies of Visual Studio, MSDN Subscriptions, etc.

Any thoughts?

[Paul M]

Heres a response i got from jmcilhinney

There's no stubbornness about it. Microsoft don't want Linux to exist so why would they make it easier for developers to defect from creating Windows software to creating Linux software.

Which seems sort of reasonable.

[techgnome]

Meanwhile.... there's Mono.... 'splain that....

Seriously though, if I remember right, the idea was that .NET could be implemented on any platform that wants to support it, but that MS was only going to provide the Windows version. For other platforms, it'll be up to someone else to build the necessary tools & architecture to get it to run on that platform.

-tg

[Paul M]

Last i remeber Mono wasn't completed 100% i am sure with the release of the source (.NET libraries) it might be able to be completed. But i would only ever use it on Linux or OS X if it were developed my Microsoft themselves.

[timeshifter]

I wouldn't use either unless my life depended on it. For Mac: I like my programs to actually work on other computers. For Linux... well, I don't really know. Aside from having more flavors than Baskin Robins, I don't see an enormous future for it. If Linux is being chosen over Windows Server, then there's probably a good reason for it, and MS might do well to figure out what it is and add it into the next generation of Server.

From what I've heard of Mono, it's flaky at best. Won't compile every .NET app out there, which in itself is a huge drawback. Given Apple's track record for the public developer, I doubt a .NET clone will ever get developed for Mac...

[wossname]

Mono is available on virtually any OS already.

It does suck though.

[Kasracer]

Heres a response i got from jmcilhinney

Which seems sort of reasonable.

This is what everyone thinks but I'm not so sure Microsoft actually feels that way. Linux isn't really a direct competitor other than the fact that it is an OS. Linux goes for a different audience so if Microsoft developed a .Net Framework that worked on Linux, I think we'd see the amount of ASP.Net apps go up quite a bit with very few licenses to Microsoft's server OS being lost (if I company chose to use Linux rather than a Microsoft OS when using a Microsoft technology, it's probably someone who wasn't going to "pay" for MS Server anyway).

Microsoft has, after all, given resources towards the development of Mono so they do see the benefit in this. Perhaps they could throw more weight behind Mono?

Last i remeber Mono wasn't completed 100% i am sure with the release of the source (.NET libraries) it might be able to be completed. But i would only ever use it on Linux or OS X if it were developed my Microsoft themselves.

Remember, Mono can't just directly use the source. They can look at it to get ideas but if they implement it in the sameway or copy any code, they could be in quite a bit of trouble. So I wouldn't count on it being completed due to a source release.

I wouldn't use either unless my life depended on it. For Mac: I like my programs to actually work on other computers. For Linux... well, I don't really know. Aside from having more flavors than Baskin Robins, I don't see an enormous future for it. If Linux is being chosen over Windows Server, then there's probably a good reason for it, and MS might do well to figure out what it is and add it into the next generation of Server.

The problem is, one of the largest reasons to use Linux as a server is because it's free. I don't think Microsoft can get around that option.

[Merrion]

It is probable that the biggest barrier to MS participation in Mono is legal (license problems) rather than technical or ethical.

[Kasracer]

It is probable that the biggest barrier to MS participation in Mono is legal (license problems) rather than technical or ethical.

I could have sworn I read somewhere that Microsoft provided documentation or some sort of help to the Mono group but I found this quote online:

No, Microsoft does not support the Mono product, nor has it licensed anything to Novell/Ximian. Mono is an attempt by Novell to reverse engineer parts of Microsoft's .NET Framework. It is not an extension of the .NET Framework and it should not be considered as such.

Frankly, Mono is just one example of the level of excitement within the developer community around .NET. At this point there are millions of developers building .NET connected applications, and more than 80 million distributions of the .NET Framework. Microsoft has also worked with partners to standardize parts of the .NET Framework in ISO.

I must be mistaken... then again, that quote was from 2004.