Some Mono/Gnome follow-ups
You've probably seen Havoc Pennington's thoughts about choosing a platform for future Gnome development. Here's a response by Paolo of the mono team. I think the argument breaks down like this: Java is just as patent-encumbered as .NET, just as sponsored by a big company with divergent interests, and anyway you can always just use the RAND/Royalty Free pieces. Additionally, it doesn't integrate nicely with C/C++.
I have one nit with that argument, which is that it compares a company that is large and successful enough to make it's own gravity with normal companies. But otherwise it's a good argument.
Sun spends a lot of time and money trying to commodotize Microsoft assets (OO, JDE, etc). They could score big here by tactically OSS-licensing some or all of Java. But, according to their software chief Jonathon Schwartz, they probably won't.
I really don't get the risk that OSS-licensing poses towards platform portability of Java, or that evil Microsoft will corrupt any open Java standard. Microsoft ships J#, just like they shipped J++. The sky remains unfallen. Java developers remain unconfused as to which flavor to pick if they value cross-platform code. Is adding three letters to MS's already shipping product going to cause that much confusion among Java and Java developers?
Switching gears to iFolders, xml.com's Ed Dumbill, who actually saw the iFolders demo, is a bit more reserved in his evaluation than me. So world should get the code on Monday IIRC, so I'll have to see for myself.
12:22:33 PM 
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