Yes it means something ... it shows good will, it shows they are probably not going to sue, and their developers are also contributing/helping out Mono.
> Cocoa is a direct descendent of NEXTStep
Oh please, take any Cocoa app and try running it in Gnustep.
> Cocoa is a direct descendent of NEXTStep
Oh please, take any Cocoa app and try running it in Gnustep.