The Mono project announced the release of version 1.2 of Mono, the open source implementation of Microsoft's .Net framework, on Thursday. The project, backed by Novell, allows applications written for the Windows framework to run on Linux and other non-Microsoft platforms. This latest version adds full support for .Net 1.1, and compatibility with parts of .Net 2.0, including support for Windows Forms.
Mono implements .Net as defined in ECMA standard ECMA-335, which specifies the Common Language Infrastructure, a C# compiler and class libraries equivalent to Microsoft's own, although these fall outside the scope of the ECMA standard. Mono runs on Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris and Windows, and has been ported by third parties to other platforms, including Symbian OS.
The Mono project was created by Miguel de Icaza while he was working at Ximian, which was acquired by Novell in 2003, as a way of quickly creating Linux applications. Mono is available under either the GPL or a proprietary licence from Novell. Mono is covered by the recent patent agreement with Microsoft, although this applies only to Novell customers, rather than any users of Mono. Novell claims that none of Mono's code infringes any Microsoft patents, and as such the agreement changes nothing for users of the open source framework.
Speaking at Microsoft's TechEd Developers conference in Barcelona, De Icaza told Builder UK that although Microsoft has recently announced version 3.0 of the .Net framework, Mono's support for only parts of .Net 2.0 isn't a barrier to adoption for most people. "The vast majority of existing .Net applications are on 1.0," he said.
While de Icaza created Mono initially for building desktop GUI applications, its suitability for use as a server-side development environment has increased dramatically since the Novell acquisition. "Today we've improved our performance in ADO, in ASP.Net, we've built tools developers need. Now we have profilers, we have debuggers, we have documentation — so it's a more rounded project today," he said.
With Mono 1.2, Windows developers wanting to target Linux, Unix and Mac OS X no longer have to make do with sub-standard facilities. "It's like moving from a hut to a house. It's not a palace yet, but it's a liveable house, and we have a plan for what comes in the next releases," explained de Icaza.
Mainsoft, whose tools allow you to run applications written for .Net on J2EE systems, has also been contributing to the project. Philippe Cohen, vice president of product development for Mainsoft, told Builder UK that Mono allows a greater level of productivity in cross-platform application development. "The .Net development technology stack is so good, so productive, that it must be a cross-platform development technology." Mono's open source, collaborative nature suited Mainsoft's own efforts to develop cross-platform tools. "We originally started extending Visual Studio ourselves to make it cross-platform. In 2002 we started developing the .Net version of our product, and we realised there was a new player in the market in the form of Mono. We realised that the right way to create cross-platform .Net was to build a coalition with that shared interest" commented Cohen.
