Hi, On Tue, Feb 05, 2002 at 04:03:57PM -0800, Andy Tai was heard to remark: > ... his recent remarks on GNOME to be based on > the .NET architecture Microsoft's .NET 'vision' is quite compelling and is an important step forward in computing principles (if carried out). The vision, as I understand it, is to create an infrastructure (of servers, compilers, languages, and gui tools) that allow "power users" (i.e. novice programmers) to create sophisticated, powerful, client-server apps. Currently, open source (and closed source) programmers create network apps through painstaking design and coding efforts, learning the intriicacies of CORBA, of XML parsers, of HTTP, or by designing 'roll-your-own' network protocols, etc. You've got to be a rocket scientist, more or less, to build a viable client-server app that aint just a toy. But imagine a world where a Microsoft Power User (someone who can use the word 'database' in a sentance without sounding foolish, and can recognize XML when he sees it)... Imagine a world where this person can create a multi-user distributed, network-capable system for.. I dunno, scheduling dental appointments. Or whatever thier particular office automation need is. What good is Linux, or any Free Software, in an environment like that? What's the point of slavishly sweating over PHP scripts and checking them into sourceforge when some Marketing guy can accomplish the same thing in an afternoon? Unless we can do a better job on .Net than Microsoft can, we'll be buried. I don't know what Miguel actually said. I hope he didn't say that some programming language is cool, cause that misses the point entirly. G Gnu N Network O Object M Model E Environment Well, we aint got much of a network object model. Corba and bonobo and such is OK, but there's a steep learning curve, and its hard to develop for. There's really not that much work going on in gnome to improve the situation. Miguel is smart enough to understand that if we try to invent something on our own, from scratch, chances are high that we'll have nothing to show for it. The road is already littered with wreckage. But if we try to build something compatible with .Net, not only do we have a clear goal, but we'll have something that people want. I'm no Microsoft lover, but .Net does present a serious challange, and we do have to rise to meet it. That, or become irrelevant. --linas p.s. >(or Mono, which was what he > meant) ... I'm pretty sure that can't be what he meant. > has created significant confusion in the GNOME > community and created doubts about GNOME's future in > many people's mind. It is not easy to wrap your mind around the coming paradigm shifts in computing. But they are coming, like it or not. http://www.linas.org/theory/eternity.html --linas -- pub 1024D/01045933 2001-02-01 Linas Vepstas (Labas!) <linas linas org> PGP Key fingerprint = 8305 2521 6000 0B5E 8984 3F54 64A9 9A82 0104 5933
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