[FSFE PR][EN] [GNU/FSF Press] New Free Software Projects- Final Version

[Janet Casey]

Media Contact: Free Software Foundation
               Bradley M. Kuhn <pr at gnu.org>
               Phone: +1-617-542-5942

FSF ANNOUNCES SUPPORT OF FREE SOFTWARE PROJECTS TO REPLACE COMPONENTS OF
MICROSOFT .NET

Boston, Massachusetts, USA - The Free Software Foundation announced
today the support of two Free Software projects, Mono and DotGNU, that
will offer Free Software alternatives to components of Microsoft's .NET
system.  The Mono and DotGNU projects will each offer different but
complimentary solutions.

The Mono Project is a community initiative to develop a Free Software,
GNU/Linux-based version of the Microsoft .NET development platform.
Incorporating key .NET compliant components, including a C# compiler, a
Common Language Runtime just-in-time compiler, and a full suite of class
libraries, the Mono Project will enable developers to create .NET
applications and run them on Windows or any Mono-supported platform,
including GNU/Linux and Unix. The Mono Project is led by Ximian, the
Free Software company co-founded by Miguel de Icaza, who has led GNU's
GNOME desktop environment to great success. The URL for the project
http://www.go-mono.net.

The DotGNU Project is a community initiative to develop Free Software
enabling decentralized services and authentication. The DotGNU Project
is led by David Sugar, who also maintains Bayonne, the GNU telephony
system, and has recently been named the CTO of FreeDevelopers. DotGNU is
centered at Savannah, the GNU developer collaboration site. The URL for
Savannah is http://savannah.gnu.org.

Richard M. Stallman, founder of the GNU project and president of the
Free Software Foundation, said: "With Mono and DotGNU, we hope to
provide good alternatives to components of .NET, ones that will respect
your freedom, and your privacy.  You will be able to use the facilities
of Mono and DotGNU either with, or without, the Internet, and using
servers of your choice."

"We are taking the lead in providing an upgraded development platform
that enables Unix and GNU/Linux developers to capitalize on the .NET
framework. By having the Mono Project reuse the work from the GNU and
GNOME project, we can greatly accelerate the development process," said
Miguel de Icaza, co-founder and chief technical officer at Ximian.

Stallman added: "Mono will enable you to run your C# programs on the
free GNU/Linux operating system using exclusively free software.  With
Mono, you will be able to use C# if you wish, without surrendering your
freedom to study, share, change, and generally control all the software
that you use."

Sugar noted that DotGNU will avoid the centralization of services
threatened by .NET, saying: "We see no technological reason to have
services hosted and deployed from a single service provider.  DotGNU
will scale so that anyone can develop and deploy network services,
whether they be an individual, large corporation, small business or
government.  Distributed authentication can assure users' freedom and
privacy, as well as the privacy and integrity for commercial and
government organizations."

These two GNU efforts will insure that both commercial and
non-commercial users will have equal freedom to innovate with these new
technologies.

About GNU:

GNU is a Free Software Unix-like operating system.  Development of GNU
began in 1984.

GNU/Linux is the integrated combination of the GNU operating system with
the kernel, Linux, written by Linus Torvalds in 1991.  The various
versions of GNU/Linux have an estimated 20 million users.

Some people call the GNU/Linux system "Linux", but this misnomer leads
to confusion (people cannot tell whether you mean the whole system or
the kernel, one part), and spreads an inaccurate picture of how, when
and where the system was developed.  Making a consistent distinction
between GNU/Linux, the whole operating system, and Linux, the kernel, is
the best way to clear up the confusion.

About Savannah:

Savannah is a development collaboration site which is used for
collaboration and cooperation among GNU developers.  It provides CVS
servers, ToDo lists, and (with our other servers) mailing lists, and web
site services.  It uses a version of the SourceForge software, adapted
by GNU volunteers.  Savannah can be found at http://savannah.gnu.org/.

About the Free Software Foundation:

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs.  The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software---particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants---and free documentation for free software.  The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software.  Their web site, located at
http://www.gnu.org, is an important source of information about
GNU/Linux. They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.


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