So, Scott Bellware posted something about how Boo couldn't be included in Visual Studio 2005 as an add-in because of some license thing having to do with VSIP. Enter in one of his hilariously stupid rants against Microsoft (he hasn't descended to using the 'Micro$oft' label that good old Linux open-source advocates use, though one is inclined to believe he would love to). Rant, rant, rant.
Except, as he was quickly informed, he was wrong, completely wrong (Scott Guthrie pointed this out in what appears to be about 2 hours, and others followed up).
So, he posted a follow-up admitting his mistake. Which is all well and good. Except his 'apology' turned into yet another rant about how the earlier license that had this license issue thing was the cause of some great harm, and it's all about FUD and blah blah blah blah blah. And Microsoft should pay up to...someone...for the harm caused by this great Boo thing.
Apparently, he seems to think Microsoft should openly support all open-source projects or something. It's hard to tell, since when he rants, he doesn't really make a lot of sense. The point is inherently nonsensical.
It's a weird thing listening to OSS advocates in the .NET space. The non-Microsoft spaces like Linux are at least consistent generally. Microsoft bad, open source good. I first encountered this attitude with a guy named Lazero I worked with in Miami who introduced me to Linux through Slackware. He would pontificate about the evils of Microsoft and I would tell him that the black helicopters from Redmond would kidnap him in his sleep, since fighting the Borg was futile. I learned a *ton* from him, and we could banter about the 'arguments' in a good humored fashion.
People like Scott seem to think....well, actually I can't tell what he things exactly. It seems as if people think that Microsoft should support OSS projects, and not introduce any technology that encroaches on any fertile territory that OSS has already started on.
This is stupid on just about every level. If nHibernate is so great, it shouldn't be threatened by the upcoming LINQ and Entity Framework. If nUnit is so great, it shouldn't be threatened by VSTS and TFS. And it shouldn't expect support from Microsoft at all. The whole 'myth' around OSS is that the community can create these great tools that compete against commercial products. Well, then do it.
And to be honest, nUnit and nHibernate don't seem to be suffering. At all. They sure as hell are cheaper, and they seem to work really well. And people use them all the time.
And I don't see Mono suffering that much. Then again, Mono is run by non-Microsoft OSS types, who don't surrender and whine each step of the way.
But, it is always entertaining to read stuff like this. As always, read the original posts and make your own opinion.