
Does Oracle/Google lawsuit represent opportunity for .NET? - bborud
http://blog.borud.no/2010/08/oraclegoogle-lawsuit-hinting-at.html
======
jcl
Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't Oracle's Java patents apply to .NET
implementations as well? Apparently, they cover fairly generic virtual-
machine-acceleration-and-security stuff.

~~~
angstrom
Even if they did Microsoft has it's only patent arsenal. You only bring a
patent suit if the IP retaliation isn't equally damaging. I think this has
more to do with Oracle seeing Google's cloud as a competitor to Oracle's
cloud. If they depended on Oracle you can bet this would be a non issue.

~~~
carson
That type of protection wouldn't extend past Microsoft however so I would
imagine this would still be an issue in the case of Google.

------
RuadhanMc
Once bitten, twice shy -- and so I highly doubt that Google would switch from
Java to .NET. It will be supported through MonoDroid, but Google itself will
no doubt already be working on support for a different language that does not
have the same risks as Java, .NET, etc.

~~~
mkr-hn
Doesn't Google use python quite a bit? Are there any good python
implementations that use VMs?

~~~
dagw
The problem is the VM, not the language. Simply switching languages won't make
a difference to the legal case if the underlying VM still infringes on the
patents.

~~~
mkr-hn
Do you know if anyone has written up a good summary of those patents?

------
cmars232
If .NET does catch on as a result, I wonder if Oracle would attack IKVM
(<http://www.ikvm.net/>) as well.

------
moron4hire
Microsoft is not interested in opening .NET to other platforms than Windows
because they see .NET as driving developers to using Windows and Visual
Studio. "While you're here, try some Office Suite." MS uses their freeware
offerings to increase demand for their payware offerings.

~~~
mrkurt
Yet they fund Mono and distribute Silverlight for OSX...

~~~
moron4hire
Which is a strategic move to A) get people to view MS as friendly to open
source, and B) get people yearning for Visual Studio. Without Visual Studio,
.NET is kind of a pain in the ass to develop. Not as bad as Java without
Eclipse, but not anywhere near simple enough to be productive with substandard
editors. Visual Studio _makes_ .NET. Mono is intended to introduce people to
the features that .NET provides and entice them into trying it where it
shines, in Visual Studio, which runs around $500 a copy, which only runs on
Windows.

~~~
mrkurt
I think you have it backwards. MS courts developers to make Windows seem like
a desirable platform. Courting developers includes building wickedly good
developer tools, but they tend to give them away. The Express editions are
free, they give out full Pro versions at most events, etc.

The point, though, is that you said "MS is not interested in opening .NET to
other platforms" when they demonstrably are. That doesn't mean they're angelic
do gooders, or that they don't want to make money, or anything else. It simply
means that they are interested in having .NET on other platforms because it
somehow suits their purposes.

------
c1sc0
No, it offers an opportunity for Objective-C _or_ HTML5 specifically in the
mobile field.

~~~
moron4hire
Certainly not Objective-C. There is a reason Objective-C is really only a
viable option on the Mac platforms, and that is the heritage of NeXTSTEP that
Jobs brought with him when he came back to Apple.

~~~
nkassis
I agree with you on objective-c. As for HTML5, V8 installed on a phone +
installable javascript apps could fully replace the current dalvik java stuff.
V8 extension could provide access to non standard stuff (calling api...) and
html for interfaces would be simple.

Games in WebGL running natively on the phone would be cool, with the fileapi
there is no need for servers around.

~~~
moron4hire
Personally, I think HTML5 is the wrong answer for the wrong problem. The
problem is not "how do we make HTML+JavaScript work more like an application."
The problem is also not "how do we make more application-like web pages." The
problem is "how do we distribute application-like functionality over the web."
That never had to mean making a new version of HTML. That never had to mean
running inside the browser.

The folly of HTML5 is this incessant reliance on SGML and human-readability.
In real-world, big-boy-pants development, we don't write HTML, HTML is our
output format. We never needed a new HTML, we needed a new output format that
worked. I don't think the WHATWG is up to the task, as evidenced by the
complete lack of sane audio handling.

------
gcb
Use java and covered by whatever canes out of google defence?

Or use. Net and be vulnerable for oracle and Microsoft?

Why ppl even bring those discussion on?

...and I don't even like java.

~~~
zokier
Microsofts patent portfolio probably is so wide that it could launch a lawsuit
against Java implementations if it wishes so. So it's more of a question who
you'd trust more, and who is more predictable, Oracle or Microsoft.

