[Bf-committers] Blender roadmap article on code blog

[Benjamin Tolputt]

On 29/06/2013, at 3:47 PM, Campbell Barton wrote:

> Mono follows an MS spec for the language runtime (CLR), not sure what
> the second program you refer to is.
> At least the technology isn't owned by MS and its open-source.
> 
> People may be wary of using MS derived technology but from what I can
> tell Mono wouldn't tie us to MS any more then Java would to Oracle.

Unlike the way Java was setup by Sun, Microsoft owns patents required for the CLR & C#. Yes, the source code is out in the wide world, but even the FSF has been clear about the threat Microsoft's patents poses to platforms that use the C#.

Personally, I don't think that Microsoft gives a damn about Blender (and agree Mono would not tie Blender to them), but should they start to use their patents against someone they *do* care about, it's possible that open-source projects using C#/CLR patents might be caught in the crossfire. 

Not trying to start a flamewar or anything, and I've used C# in a few projects now (so I'm not adverse to it's use per se), but there are reasons some folks are wary of using C#/Mono in an cross-platform, open-source project. Microsoft uses it's patents aggressively in it's commercial role and there it isn't unreasonable to assume they would use the C#/CLR ones if they see the need.

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Benjamin Tolputt