Miguel de Icaza and Pixelmonkey talk Java, Mono, Windows, Linux

Andrew Montalenti, aka Pixelmonkey, started a lively debate with Miguel over at Miguel's comment google group. The thread is here, and Andrew's post on it is here.

Mono is my numero-uno interest as far as open source projects go. And I've always gotten a kick out of Miguel's style. Open source zealots seem often puzzled by Miguel's decision to dance with the devil, as they would see it.

I'm not calling Andrew a zealot, just that he brought up a number of the points that I've seen made with far less tact and forethought by some of the more zealous.

"Why would I choose mono when I have an open source java?" I think that's the wrong question. Most developers don't choose a language and/or platform. They either only know one, or of the several they know, one is dictated to them by their job. So why mono? Because it provides a path to Linux and other platforms where C# was their non-choice.

Along those lines, I'm planning on moving this blog to a mono-powered dasBlog engine on a linux host. Just to see what it's like. And to stop feeling like a *.blogspot.com poser. :)