Re: Gnome Desktop Language

[Kristian Berg <kriberg tihlde org>]

tor, 09,.12.2004 kl. 15.06 +0100, skrev Michael Anckaert:
> Hello all,
> I'm new to this list, just subscribed today. I've been using gnome for
> a long time now, started with v1.4.
> As you may have figured out, this mail is about a Gnome desktop language.

Hi!

> My personal favorite is Java. I've been programming java for a year or
> so and have really grown to like it.Mono isn't really a candidate for
> me, as it's to much a M$ product.

Mono is not an M$ product, as it is a free implementation of the C#
language, released as free software. Although some may argue it has a
little "stench" of Microsoft about it, I don't think so.

Many students are thought computer science using the Java language, so
by choosing Java as the "official Gnome desktop language", the Gnome
community can tap into a vast potential developer base. But then again,
anyone who has written Java code for a couple of years, can easily start
using C#. 

> In the thread I read in the archives, Java isn't seen as a candidate.
> I think this isn't true. Java is a very good candidate to become the
> official Gnome Desktop Language.
> Instead of waiting for Sun or IBM to release their JDK under an oss
> license, the Gnome community should contact Sun or IBM and try to
> convice them to release Java or the JDK under an oss license.
> Anyone with common sence should realise that incoporating java into
> Gnome can only be a good thing. For both the Java and Gnome community.
> As things are going, Java will be dead in a couple of years and .Net
> will controll most of the software around.
> Using Java as the Gnome desktop language can change this. It will make
> Gnome development more accisible to others, thus creating more
> applications for Gnome and increasing the use of Java.

Last time I heard, the mono vs java was a non-issue, as it spawns a
giant discussion of the blessings and curses of each language and no
real decision can be made. It may seem like the developers working for
Novell want mono and the Redhat guys want java.

After what I have read, using Sun java isn't an alternative, as it has a
license which restrict how you can distribute it. IANAL, but it would
seem distributions can't ship with java. Redhat people have been working
hard to make the GNU classpath project compatible with the sun JDK.
Together with the IBM Jikes jvm, we've got a viable alternative.

> As said before, Mono isn't really a candidate for me. I think that
> there is to many risc that Microsoft will slow down or halt Mono (and
> Gnome) development with lawsuits and such. I haven't read much about
> the subject so I can't really give valid reasons/facts for this.

I think this is an issue which could be just as big risk with Java. Sun
is positioning itself with Microsoft and sending more and more flack/fud
towards RedHat, so they could possibly be just as likely as Microsoft to
cause problems. 

-- 
Kristian Berg