The Mono trap uses disinformation to spread itself, leading to more dissatisfied users

We have received some mail recently from developers who are concerned about issues that are covered here, including OOXML and Mono. One person, for example, was concerned about pressure on KDE to implement support for OOXML (a big no-no). Coming from Debian, a concerned developer spoke about the problems surrounding Mono. Together, we ought to at least try to inform.

Two law professors from UC Berkeley have come up with a novel idea to protect open source developers from patent bullies. They call it the Defensive Patent License. They hope the DPL can address the objections FOSS developers have with patents the way the GPL addressed them for copyright.

The situation revolving around Eee PC (Xandros derivative) is revisited; Mono still raises concerns.

The Mono riddle begs for source of the claims of "demand"

Canonical's route to escaping Microsoft's patent extortion is simple owing to gThumb and Gnote, but will it manage to see Mono's agenda?

Users of free and open source software (“FOSS”) have little to gain and much to fear from the patent system. The patent system poses two major threats to users:

The argument seems simple... without a system of strong copyright, creators will have no incentive to create...the facts so resoundingly, enthusiastically, thumpingly dispute that conclusion tells us that the syllogism is wrong. Indeed, the facts say the syllogism has it backwards. Current copyright laws are holding back the innovation they were intended to spur.

Microsoft has shown the world exactly how friendly it is towards open source by going to court to claim damages over patents which have been allegedly violated in an implementation of the Linux kernel. And that's a good reason why FOSS users should avoid Mono and Moonlight like the plague.