GNOME: Java, Mono, or C++?
Havoc writes on the issue of a high-level application language for GNOME.
In the Linux desktop world, there's widespread sentiment that high-level language technologies such as garbage collection, sandboxed code, and so forth would be valuable to have and represent an improvement over C/C++. [...]
To me the way to create something that most of the community can swallow is to stick strictly to open source, unencumbered technologies. This means there's a level playing field; anyone can hire developers to contribute to the technologies, anyone can fork if they have to. It's essential that our high-level language technology have no single owner with irrevocable control.
Open source creates this level playing field, and that's why it historically works as a way for diverse companies and individuals to collaborate on software projects. Without the level playing field, everyone gets too paranoid and fragmentation or stagnation are inevitable. [...] Aside from IP issues, Microsoft controls the .NET platform. They will always be ahead, and it will always be tuned for Windows. This is the wrong direction for free software, if we want to win the war, and not only some battles.
Even if we use some unencumbered ideas or designs from the .NET world, we should never define our open source managed runtime as a .NET clone.
I think he's right that Python, Perl and Ruby are not it. They're great for particular applications but I wouldn't want to write an office suite in them. On the other hand, if neither C# or Java work out for licensing reasons, Python might be a good pick.
Rick Kitts is not convinced, but I think he's being too pessimistic.
You can often see open source projects having design arguments, personal fights, making mistakes or changing their mind in public. It's easy to conclude from this that they're really schizophrenic or hostile. I don't think they are. Similar discussions occur inside companies. The only big difference is that open source projects do it in public.
In particular, Microsoft probably had a similar discussion paper before deciding on their strategy for C#. Indeed, you can see them doing this sort of thing in the Halloween papers.
GNOME have pretty consistently been able to have a dicussion, make a decision and move on. I think they will be fine here.
posted Thu 18 Mar 2004 in /software/gnome | link
Archives 2008: Apr Feb 2007: Jul May Feb Jan 2006: Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun Jan 2005: Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan 2004: Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan 2003: Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May
Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Martin Pool.