Re: [GNU-linux-libre] Should the use of C#, Mono, and .NET still be discouraged?

[bill-auger]

On Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:21:08 -0600 Jacob wrote:
> that page suggests, but I decided it wasn't important enough and so osu! 
> and .NET were left off of the FSD.

i am not familiar with 'osu' - it probably would not meet the
criteria of importance or popularity - dotnet itself is not
important nor popular in the free world

but even if dotnet were important or popular, it would not be on
that list, because it did not exist when the list was last
reviewed - at that time there was 'mono', which is fully-libre
replacement for dotnet - but it too was was not popular because
dotnet never was - very few programs have ever been written for
dotnet, which people use on systems other than windows - i do
not know of any which would qualify as popular or important


On Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:21:08 -0600 Jacob wrote:
> We also found .NET in Parabola [9], further confirming this.

that does not really confirm anything - that package is imported
automatically from arch - it would not be removed unless/until
something non-free about it is reported and confirmed

there have been several bug reports about mono and dotnet over
the years; but only one which was conclusive - that was a library
from microsoft for mono ('referenceassemblies') - that (and
the mono IDE monodevelop) was removed at the time - that was
before dotnet existed for *nix systems

* "Microsoft redistributable assembly EULA"[1]

the others are concerns about reproducibility and privacy -
these were reported against dotnet, soon after it was rele3ased

* "Arch version is not built from source"[2]
* "dotnet-sdk, dotnet-runtime telemetry"[3]
* ".NET spying"[4]

around that same time

IMHO, whether or not it is libre, it is junk - programs written
for dotnet have all the same reproducibility problems as java,
javascript, golang, etc - for me, thats enough - we dont need
any of those, and they are undesirable at face value


On Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:21:08 -0600 Jacob wrote:
> Is using 
> OSSGadget (based on .NET) to help the Free Software Directory a good 
> idea? 

dunno - you did not explain what that program does, or how it
could be helpful


On Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:21:08 -0600 Jacob wrote:
> Regardless of the FSDG, should using C# implementations still be 
> discouraged?

C# is only a language - it is neither free nor non-free; because
it is not software - only the dotnet compiler and runtime would
be subject to scrutiny