Miguel de Icaza

In July 2001 we announced the launch of the Mono Project ­ an effort to build an open-source implementation of the Microsoft .NET Framework using the technical documents that Microsoft submitted to ECMA (the European Computer Manufacturers Association) for standarization. Eighteen months later, we have achieved quite a bit: we have an implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), a C# compiler, and roughly 3,500 classes at various degrees of completion. In this magazine it is not necessary to rave about the greatness of .NET and how it simplifies the development process, nor the pleasure you receive from writing new code in the C# language and being able to morph and model your code rapidly to improve it, and to quickly expand it. The original team at Ximian that set out to build Mono and create its vibrant community was interested in bringing this plea... (more)

Keynote Panel : The Open Source Debate

This lively discussion will take on the controversial questions that everyone is asking. What are the limits of Linux? How will Open Source change the industry? What opportunities and risks are associated with the rise of Open Source? Come join in the discussion, and pose the OS questions that are on your own high-priority list. Panelists: Miguel de Icaza (Chief Technology Officer, Novell Ximian Services, founder of the GNOME Foundation), Sam Greenblatt (Senior VP and chief architect, Linux Technology Group, CA), Bob Zurek (VP of Advanced Technology, Ascential Software), Margo Seltze... (more)

Mono, Mainsoft and Cross-Platform Enterprise Development

At first glance, it may sound like an impossible prospect for .NET developers to engage in cross-platform, open source development in the enterprise. Such a reality would be unfortunate, because many development teams enjoy the productivity inherent in using Visual Studio .NET and its wealth of tools for rapidly producing high-quality code. However, they would also like the ability to deploy on platforms other than Windows. That is the purpose of the Mono project (www.go-mono.org), an open source implementation of the .NET Framework based on the ECMA International standards for ... (more)

De Icaza Strikes Out: "Cringley Is All Wrong" About Microsoft

Microsoft has won in the past due to many factors, and none of them related to "Let them define the game," a couple from a list of many: They leveraged their monopoly to break into new markets. The most discussed one is when they used brute force and anti-competitive strategies to get their products into new markets, but in some other cases they got fairly good adoption of their products with little or no effort: just bundle it with Windows: MSN messenger, Media Player. Competitors were outmaneuvered or were incompetent (See High Stakes No Prisoners). People were sleeping at t... (more)