Re: GNOME, .Net and Mono

[Crispin Wellington <crispin iinet net au>]

On Sun, 2002-02-03 at 01:39, Sean Middleditch wrote: 

> > > Just because it's Mono, I don't think that means we'll be forced to use
> > > any of the (likely) security/stability problems with MS's
> > > implementation, or be forced to run closed code, or have to program in
> > > C#.  As I understand it, it'll be more like the ultimate wrapper, the
> > > ultime plugin architecture, the ultime scripting interface, etc. (or, at
> > > least, until someone invents something better.  ^,^)
> > 
> > "Ultimate" wrapper, "ultimate" plugin architecture, "ultimate" scripting 
> > interface? I feel like I was reading a developer's fairly-tale: attractive 
> > but having not much to do with reality. Well, that's just a feeling.
> 
> Well, I'm thinking along these lines:
> 
> As a wrapper, each language would only need *one* interface - the Mono
> interface.  So instead of needing PyGTK, PyGNOME, PyBonobo, PyCORBA, and
> whatever other ten billion, all slighty differently stylized Python
> wrappers, there'd just be PyMono, and everything would be accessible
> thru that.
Does that make it yet another GTK, GNOME, Qt, Tk? Another interface.
Theoretically you could make GTK the API, and write middleware that
would turn the calls into Qt calls, Tk etc. So is .NET's API going to be
*better*? What makes one API better than another? Marketing or design? 

> For a scripting interface... well, Mono *would* be the scripting
> interface.  You've got your itnerpreter built in, you have a huge amount
> of support libraries, plus any exposed app functionality, and you won't
> be limited to language.
But I like using Python. I like using C and C++. I kinda like using perl
;). Im teaching myself lisp slowly and one day would like to teach
myself postscript :-P Every language has purposes its built for. If I
need to process large numbers of text files and match lines using
regular expressions to gather data, then I'd use perl. If I wanted high
speed and lowlevel control of datastructures Id use C++. 

Will Mono just become another? Why would I stop coding in my present
languages? What is C#? Is it really that radically different? 

> You won't need a Python itnerface, a Perl
> interface, a Ruby interface, a C# interface, etc. for each application.
No. Youd need a Mono interface. 

> The same is true for plugins.  Every app has a different plugin
> architecture, and most of them are *erally* ugly (requires restarting
> the app, or doesn't expose as much functionality as the scripting do,
> etc).
A preset plugin architecture. Will we be emancipated by its brilliance,
or restricted by its control? 

> While it won't be the perfect design (i.e. ultimate), it does seem
> better than anything else I've seen to date.  Thus my additional comment
> "until someone invents something better."  Which hasn't happened yet,
> that I can tell.
Is anything ever Ulitimate or is that like heaven for programmers? Like
Turing Nirvana :) 

> Well, if when writing a program in C, I'm forced to generate a Mono
> call, which generates byte code that then must be interpreted, resulting
> in an RPC, just to manipulate a window... ya, that'll suck.  *but*, if I
> can trim out all that CORBA and Bonobo and such to use one single small
> layer for RPC, I think it would be a lot faster.
Security and control concern we with this RPC idea. 

Excuse my scepticism, but theres been some strange twists in Mono and
Gnome over the last few weeks. What first with the Licence change for
Mono, and now a vision of Gnome mutating into that Licence model. Will
one day Gnome fork? 

Whatever happens, its gonna be interesting. 

Kind Regards 
Crispin