Ubuntu 7.10 Linux Unleashed, Third Edition

Chapter 27. Mono

<feature><title>In This Chapter</title>

• Why Use Mono?

• Mono on the command line

• Building on Mono’s libraries

• Reference

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Although Microsoft intended it for Windows, Microsoft’s .NET platform has grown to encompass many other operating systems. No, this isn’t a rare sign of Microsoft letting customers choose which OS is best for them—instead, the spread of .NET is because of the Mono project, which is a free re-implementation of .NET available under the a GPL license.

Because of the potential for patent complications, it took most distros a long time to incorporate Mono, but it’s here now and works just fine. What’s more, Mono supports both C# and Visual Basic .NET, as well as the complete .NET 1.0 and 1.1 frameworks (and much ...