3 Q: Is Mono the same as Microsoft's .NET initiative?
7 .NET is a company-wide initiative at Microsoft that
8 encompasses many different areas. The .NET development framework,
9 Passport, Biztalk, new server products, and anything that is
10 remotely connected to .NET gets the ".NET-stamping" treatment.
11 Some components of Microsoft's .NET initiative have been announced
12 and some others are in the works.
14 Mono is a project to implement several technologies developed by
15 Microsoft that have now been submitted to the ECMA Standards Body.
17 Q: What technologies are included in Mono?
19 A: Mono contains a number of components useful for building new
23 * A Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) virtual
24 machine that contains a class loader, Just-in-time
25 compiler, and a garbage collecting runtime.
27 * A class library that can work with any language
28 which works on the CLR.
30 * A compiler for the C# language. In the future we
31 might work on other compilers that target the Common
34 Windows has compilers that target the
36 href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/net/thirdparty/default.asp#lang">a
37 number of languages:</a> Managed C++, Java Script,
38 Eiffel, Component Pascal, APL, Cobol, Oberon, Perl,
39 Python, Scheme, Smalltalk, Standard ML, Haskell,
43 The CLR and the Common Type System (CTS) enables applications and
44 libraries to be written in a number of languages. Classes and
45 methods created in one language can be used from a different
48 This means for example that if you define a class to do algebraic
49 manipulation in C#, that class can be reused from any other
50 language that supports the CLI. You could create a class in C#,
51 subclass it in C++ and instantiate it in an Eiffel program.
53 A single object system, threading system, class libraries, and
54 garbage collection system can be shared across all these languages.
56 Q: Where can I find the specification for these technologies?
58 A: You can find the work-in-progress documentation from the T3G ECMA
61 <a href="http://www.dotnetexperts.com">http://www.dotnetexperts.com</a>
63 Q: Will you implement the .NET Framework SDK class libraries?
65 A: Yes, we will be implementing the APIs of the .NET Framework SDK
68 Q: What does Mono stand for?
70 A: Mono is the word for `Monkey' in Spanish. We like monkeys.
72 Q: When will you ship it?
74 A: We do not know when the code will be shipped. The more
75 contributions we get to the project, the sooner it will ship.
77 A rough estimate is that we might be able to run our C# compiler on
78 Linux by the end of the year. That means running the Windows
79 Executable generated by a Microsoft .NET compiler on the Linux
82 We expect that doing GUI applications will require more work on the
83 class libraries. That could take another six months.
85 Q: How can I contribute?
87 A: Check the <a href="contributing.html">contributing</a> section.
89 Q: You guys should innovate instead of copying.
92 We have decided that we should spend our limited resources towards
93 implementing an existing specification instead of designing and
96 Designing and implementing our own would be possible, but it doesn't make
97 sense to do that just because the specification comes from a
102 Q: Why is Ximian working on .NET?
104 A: We are interested in providing the best tools for programmers to
105 develop applications for Free Operating Systems.
107 For more information, read the project <a
108 href="rationale.html">rationale</a> page.
110 Q: Will Ximian be able to take on a project of this size?
112 A: Ximian will not be able to taken on the whole project on its own.
113 Mono will be a free software/open source community project, that is
114 the only way we can hope to implement something of this size. You
115 can <a href="contributing.html">contribute</a> to this effort.
117 Q: What pieces will Ximian be working on?
119 A: We will focus on building a development and execution
122 The idea is to get Mono to a state of that would allow
123 third parties to actually be able to use it real-world development.
127 Q: If applications use Mono, does that mean that I have to pay a service fee?
129 A: No. Mono is not related to Microsoft's initiative of
130 software-as-a-service.
132 Q: If you implement .NET, will I depend on Microsoft Passport to run my software?
134 A: No. The .NET Framework is a runtime infrastructure and collection
135 of class libraries. Passport may be required to access certain web
136 services written for that framework, but only if the programmer
137 chooses Passport as the authentication mechanism.
139 Q: Is .NET just a bunch of marketing slogans?
141 A: Although the `.NET initiative' is still quite nebulous, The .NET Framework
142 has been available for some time. Mono is not an implementation of the .NET
143 initiative, just the development framework.
147 Q: Is this a free implementation of Passport?
149 A: No. Passport is part of Microsoft's Hailstorm initiative. Mono
150 is just a runtime, a compiler and a set of class libraries.
152 Q: Will the System.Web.Security.PassportIdentity class, mean
153 that my software will depend on Passport?
155 A: No. That just means that applications might use that API to
156 contact a Passport site.
158 As long as your application does not use Passport, you will not
161 It might even be possible to implement that class with
162 a set of dummy functions, or use an alternate Passport implementation.
164 We do not know at this time whether the Passport protocol is
165 documented and whether we will be able to talk to
170 Q: How is this related to GNOME?
172 A: In a number of ways:
174 * Mono will use existing
175 components that have been developed for GNOME (Gtk+, Libart,
176 Gnome-DB and maybe others).
178 * This project was born out of the need of providing improved
179 tools for the GNOME community.
181 * We would like to add support to our CLR implementation to
182 deal with GObjects (in GNOME 1.x, they are called
183 GtkObjects), and allow Mono developers to provide GObjects
184 or use and extend existing GObjects.
186 Q: Has the GNOME Foundation or the GNOME team adopted Mono?
188 A: Mono is too new to be adopted by those groups. We hope that the
189 tools that we will provide will be adopted by free software
190 programmers including the GNOME Foundation members and the GNOME
193 Q: Should GNOME programmers switch over to Mono?
195 A: Mono will not be ready even within the next six months, and a
196 complete implementation is probably one year away.
198 We encourage GNOME developers to continue using the existing tools,
199 libraries and components. Improvements made to GNOME will have an
200 impact on Mono, as they will provide the "backend" for various
203 Q: Will Mono include compatibility with Bonobo components?
205 A: Yes, we will provide a set of classes for implementing and using
206 Bonobo components from within Mono.
210 Q: Is Mono a way of running Java applets?
216 Q: Is Mono just a new way of writing Web Services?
220 Q: If this implements the SDK classes, will I be able to write and
221 execute .NET Web Services with this?
225 When the project is finished, you will be able to use the same
226 technologies that are available through the .NET Framework SDK on
227 Windows to write Web Services.
231 A: Soup is a library for GNOME applications to create SOAP server and
232 SOAP clients. You can browse <a href=Soup here
236 A: Yes. The CLI contains enough information about a class that
237 exposing it to other RPC systems (like CORBA) is really simple, and
238 does not even require support from an object.
240 We will be implementing CORBA interoperation as an extension to the
241 Mono classes so that we can integrate with Bonobo, just like
242 Microsoft provides COM interoperation classes and support
245 Q: Can I serialize my objects to other things other than XML?
247 A: Yes, although the serializing tools have not yet been planned, and
248 you would probably have to implement them yourself.
252 Q: Will it be possible to use the CLI features without using bytecodes
255 A: Yes. The CLI engine will be made available as a shared library.
256 The garbage collection engine, the threading abstraction, the
257 object system, the dynamic type code system and the JIT will be
258 available for C developers to integreate with their applications if
261 Q: Will you have new development tools?
263 A: Hopefully Free Software enthusiasts will contribute tools to
264 improve the developer environment. These tools could be developed
265 initially using Microsoft implementation of the CLI and then
266 executed later with Mono.
270 Q: What about using Java? After all there are many languages that
273 A: You can get very good tools for doing Java development on free
274 systems right now. <a href="http://www.redhat.com">Red Hat</a> has
275 contributed a <a href="http://gcc.gnu.org">GCC</a> <a
276 href="http://gcc.gnu.org/java">frontend for Java</a> that can take
277 Java sources or Java byte codes and generate native executables; <a
278 href="http://www.transvirtual.com">Transvirtual</a> has implemented
279 <a href="http://www.kaffe.org">Kaffe</a> a JIT engine for Java;
280 Intel also has a Java VM called <a
281 href="http://www.intel.com/research/mrl/orp">ORP</a>.
283 The JVM is not designed to be a general purpose virtual machine.
284 The Common Intermediate Language (CIL), on the other hand, is
285 designed to be a target for a
286 wide variety of programming languages, and has a set of rules
287 designed to be optimal for JITers.
289 Q: What kind of rules make the Common Intermediate Language useful for
292 A: The main rule is that the stack in the CLI is not a general purpose
293 stack. You are not allowed to use it for other purposes than
294 computing values and passing arguments to functions or return
297 At any given call or return instruction, the types on the stack
298 have to be the same independently of the flow of execution of your
303 Q: Would you allow other classes other than those in the
306 A: Yes. The Microsoft class collection is very big, but it is by no
307 means complete. It would be nice to have a port of `Camel' (the
308 Mail API used by Evolution inspired by Java Mail) for Mono
311 For more information on extending Mono, see our <a
312 href="ideas.html">ideas</a> page.
314 ** Mono and portability
316 Q: Will Mono only work on Linux?
318 A: Currently, we are doing our work on Linux-based systems and
319 Windows. We do not expect many Linux-isms in the code, so it
320 should be easy to port Mono to other UNIX variants.
322 Q: What about Mono on non X-based systems?
324 A: Our main intention at Ximian is to be able to develop GNOME
325 applications with Mono, but if you are interested in providing a
326 port of the Winform classes to other platforms (frame buffer or
327 MacOS X for example), we would gladly integrate them, as long
328 they are under a Free Software License.
330 ** Reusing existing Code
332 Q: What projects will you reuse or build upon?
334 A: We want to get Mono in the hands of programmers soon. We are
335 interested in reusing existing open source software.
337 Q: What about Intel's research JIT framework, ORP?
339 A: At this time, we are investigating whether we can use elements of
342 Q: What about using GNU Lightning?
344 A: We are also researching <a
345 href="http://www.gnu.org/software/lightning/lightning.html">GNU
348 ** Ximian and Microsoft
350 Q: Didn't Miguel de Icaza say that `Unix Sucks'?
352 A: Yes, he did, as a catch phrase in his opening remark on the Ottawa
353 Linux Symposium. His talk focused on various ways to improve Unix.
355 There is a paper describing some ways to improve Unix at:
357 <a href="http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/bongo-bong.html">
358 http://primates.ximian.com/~miguel/bongo-bong.html</a>
360 Q: Didn't Ximian's Miguel work for Microsoft?
362 A: Actually, Nat Friedman (Ximian's co-founder) did work as an
363 intern for Microsoft for one summer but Miguel did not.
365 Q: Did Nat and Miguel meet at Microsoft?
367 A: They met online on the Linux IRC network; They met in person for
368 the first time in 1997.
372 Q: What is the difference between CLR (Common Language Runtime) and
373 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure)?
375 A: CLI is the specification of an execution system. The Microsoft
376 implementation of this specification is named CLR.
378 Unless we come up with our own acronym, we could just call ours
379 also CLR, just because it would do exactly the same thing the
380 Microsoft implementation does.