ANY intellectual property can be (and is by default in the U.S.) copyrighted
to the originator, unless otherwise specified.
This includes languages. In fact, the entire open source world is having
issues right now because of feelings like the one expressed here. You can't
just make a "free" copy (functionally speaking) of something and expect that
the owner of the copyright isn't going to have an problem with that.
Luckily, in this case, for those who want to use Mono, Microsoft created the
various pieces of .NET (the CLI, BCL, C#, etc.) and submitted most of it to
open standards by filing with ECMA. Anyone is free to create an
implementation based on those standards, and MS has itself created a free
shared-source version of this material called ROTOR, which will run under
Unix as well.
However, look closely at the licensing for any software you use. For
example, while you are free to use Mono, if you use Visual Studio or the
..NET SDK from Microsoft, the program must legally be used only under
Windows.
-Rob Teixeira [MVP]
"Mythran" <ki********@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uP**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
"gabriel" <no@no--spam.com> wrote in message
news:b7***************************@msgid.meganewss ervers.com... Mythran wrote:
Are there any legal issues that should be made aware before jumping
the gun?
No. Computer languages cannot be copyrighted, so there are not even
those issues. As a user of Mono you would not be liable for any infringement.
Bah, computer languages can't be copyrighted eh? Here is a good example
of a computer language being copyrighted and Microsoft being sued for using
it .... Visual J++. Read up on it :) Computer languages can be because
they are written and copyrighted as intellectual property.
Mythran