.NET Posted by MOHAMMED ABDUL HAMEED on 12:04 PM

.NET

Microsoft's .NET CLI executable environment, and some of the corresponding class library, have been standardized and can be freely implemented without a license. A few standards-compliant free software environments have been implemented, such as the Mono Project and DotGNU. The Mono Project has also implemented many of Microsoft's non-standard libraries by examining Microsoft materials, similar to GNU Classpath and Java.

Microsoft is currently distributing a shared source version of its .NET runtime environment for academic use, however it is only supported on Windows 7 and has not been updated after .NET 4.0.[7]

The Mono project aims to avoid infringing on any patents or copyrights, and to the extent that they are successful, the project can be safely distributed and used under the GPL. On November 2, 2006, Microsoft and Novell announced a joint agreement whereby Microsoft promised not to sue Novell or its customers for patent infringement.[8] According to a statement on the blog of Mono project leader Miguel de Icaza, this agreement only extends to Mono for Novell developers and users.[9] Because of the possible threat of Microsoft patents, the FSF recommends that people avoid creating software that depends on Mono or C#.[10][11]

The Microsoft/Novell agreement was criticized by some in the open source community because it violates the principles of giving equal rights to all users of a particular program (see Agreement with Microsoft and Mono and Microsoft's patents).