Re: News: .NET framework source code available soon...

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Peter Duniho wrote:

Mads Bondo Dydensborg wrote:
Peter Duniho wrote:

That is correct. If you merely create _similar_ source code with an
identical purpose you're fine, though.
Not according to Mads, and that's the point I'm disputing.

I do not recall writing anything about that, really.

Sorry. That's the inference I take from your statement regarding Mono's
policy combined with your agreement with the policy.

No problem. I was probably not expressing myself very clearly. This happens.

If you believe that there is no legal risk in creating similar source
code as long as you haven't actually copied the .NET sources, then why
is it that you think Mono's policy has merit?

A quite relevant question, that deserves a much better answer than I can
possibly hope to formulate given the time I can spend, and so on. I will
try to sketch some of the reasons

Much of it has to do with the fact that much open source efforts are heavily
dependent on perception. E.g. the company I work for (we work with what is
commonly referred to as Intelectual Property, I believe) has a strategy on
the it side that was originally (+20 years back) formed around Unix. There
were no such thing as Windows those days. These days, its Linux, as our
codebase can run on Linux, whereas porting it to Windows would require many
many years, better spend elsewhere. There are good sound business reasons
for this, including the compentences of the staff, etc.

Now, as an experiment, we are undertaking a rewrite/development of a product
in .net. This is because we have business cases for both running it on
Linux (in-house) and on Windows (outsourcing, client run). It has been
decided to try and do this in .net, with the majority of development taking
place under Linux/Mono, al the while ensuring that deployment on Windows is
still possible. (Btw: Originally this product was acquired from another
company, and it was Windows only, mostly written in VB)

The perception of Mono is relevant here. If a major player were to accuse
Mono of copyright infringement, naturally my company would have to consider
the long term availability of Mono as a platform. You and I may consider
this absurd, but laywers and people responsible for the money and the
decisions, do not. The issue of copyright is very important to my company,
given the area we do business in. Monos policy of a clean room
implementation (thanks Arne for pointing out the reference) is an insurance
for companies like mine, that the effort spent developing with Mono, and
fixing bugs in Mono, is well spent.

I hope you understand. The issues that we may mockingly refer to as Fear,
Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) is real in many policymakers eyes. E.g. many
companies has been harmed by the SCO case, even though it was clear to most
of us, that they never had a case. Monos policy is all part of trying to
protect the effort against accusations that may be groundless, but
nevertheless quite harmful.

Legal action can be quite harmful, even though it has no solid ground to
stand on. This is a good reason to try to protect oneself against it. As
you may recall, several initiatives have been started to try and fulfill
this goal:

http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197000797

And, this is the kind of considerations companies take:
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/item/?ci=10914

Hope that clears my viewpoint, which I believed is shared by many, up.

Regards,

Mads

--
Med venlig hilsen/Regards

Systemudvikler/Systemsdeveloper cand.scient.dat, Ph.d., Mads Bondo
Dydensborg
Dansk BiblioteksCenter A/S, Tempovej 7-11, 2750 Ballerup, Tlf. +45 44 86 77
34
.

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