Microsoft providing .NET Framework source code!

[Lashiec]

Bump

Microsoft finally released the source code for .NET as promised. Nothing new, so why are you resurrecting a 3-months old topic? Because they introduced a change in the license that affects the Mono Framework. Quotable quote:

The .NET Framework source is being released under a read-only reference license. When we announced that we were releasing the source back in October, some people had concerns about the potential impact of their viewing the source. To help clarify and address these concerns, we made a small change to the license to specifically call out that the license does not apply to users developing software for a non-Windows platform that has “the same or substantially the same features or functionality” as the .NET Framework. If the software you are developing is for Windows platforms, you can look at the code, even if that software has "the same or substantially the same features or functionality" as the .NET Framework.

I wonder if this means that the guys working at Novell in Mono can actually use the source code as a reference for improving Mono. Hmmm, the blog entry is now 10 days old, but Miguel de Icaza didn't comment anything in his weblog.

EDIT: OK, on second reading, the quote appears to me to specify the contrary to what I thought at first. DO NOT look at the code if you're developing something outside Windows. And it actually makes sense

[jgpaiva]

They say "the license does not apply to users developing software for a non-windows platform". What does that mean? That the code is unlicensed when you're working ouside the windows platform and you can do whatever you want with it?

[arunpawar]

I think MS is trying to penetrate in linux so that their useless technology can make linux useless.u KNOW THEY CAN CREATE virus using .net language to penetrate in linux.As for .net there will be executables,so protection from executable will no longer exist in linux then virus hunt begins.More and more MS employees will easily create security holes for linux.

So in short Mono project can damage linux community.