Silverlight on Linux? We're in, says Mono founder
The Mono open-source project will create a Linux version of Silverlight by the end of year, said Miguel de Icaza, a Novell vice president and head of Mono.
At the Mix '07 conference on Monday, Microsoft touted the ability to write Silverlight Web applications that run on Internet Explorer, Firefox and the Safari browser on Mac OS. Next up for Silverlight is an edition for mobile devices, including Windows Mobile.
Asked about plans for Linux, Microsoft executives have been non-committal, saying that it will depend on demand.
But de Icaza, who is attending Mix, was able to commit without hesitating.
The port will allow someone to use .Net languages to create Web applications that run on any Linux device or other platforms that Mono supports. Mono is an open-source implementation of portions of Microsoft's .Net Framework for building cross-platform applications.
Mono developers stand to benefit from the Dynamic Language Runtime, which Microsoft announced on Monday. The code for the Dynamic Language Runtime, which allows dynamic language programmers to create .Net applications, will be released under a license that allows commercial companies to redistribute and modify the code.
Don't rip & replace. VoIP as you are
As an added benefit, this will help Microsoft in its attempts to create another de-facto standard in the market.
And not to end on this, it should also fuel Ballmer's FUD about Microsoft patents that many free/open-source projects allegedly infringe.
Way to go...
But I'm glad to see another proprietary standard die. It's high time it did. We know it's given our poor devs over at gnash enough trouble.