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Posted in Antitrust, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Standard, Windows at 10:28 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Just some quick points worthy of clarification: Moonlight is not Silverlight. Microsoft does not support GNU/Linux as far as Silverlight is concerned. Novell merely plays catch-up trying to implement something which Microsoft refuses to make available for GNU/Linux. There is no promise of full compatibility and future support. There are also limitations being imposed on distribution and a burden of software of patents. The scenario is similar to that which involves OOXML because Novell gives perceived support which Microsoft then uses to market its technology to developers (calling it “cross-platform”).
Enter standards. Decentralised control. Choice!
“Silverlight is not standardised and it is not recommended by the W3C, either.”Enter the binary Web again. Silverlight is not standardised and it is not recommended by the W3C, either. It’s a case against W3C in the sense that it renders the W3C’s work obsolete. Microsoft has total control over Silverlight. Microsoft can (and will) change it any time it wishes to suit other business goals such as O/S competition, application integration (e.g. Microsoft’s Web design tools), Web services (Live), advertising (MSN), etc. That, and primarily that, is why Flash can be trusted more than Silverlight. Do not allow people to draw a comparison between Flash and Silverlight because Adobe is neither interested in discriminating against operating systems, nor has it got a history that demonstrates this.
Judge Jackson once recommended separating the company into an operating system unit which is wholly independent from another that handles applications. Neelie Kroes pondered spilling the company last year as well. Silverlight is another fine reminder of the use of applications (and the World Wide Web) to mutually support an operating system and other frameworks that serve as common carriers.
The only thing more worrying than Silverlight is people’s lack of awareness of Silverlight’s danger to the Web, to GNU/Linux users, to search engines that compete against Microsoft, to digital preservation and many other things. █
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