MS Silverlight / Linux Moonlight

[Bill Sconce]

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:46:34 -0400
Mark Boyajian <mlboy at charter.net> wrote:

> Microsoft(MSFT) also announced Wednesday that in reaction to customer
> demand it will be working with Novell(NOVL) to create and support a
> version of Silverlight that will run on Linux. [...]


So much of Microsoft's struggling has indicated "don't get it".  *THIS*
indicates "gets it".  The Linux strategy which might work is... the same
old strategy which always did work: embrace and extend. They've resisted
the "embrace" part for Linux, probably by reflex, up to now.  

"Get the Facts". A joke.  ISO/oopsXML.  A charade.  

But "Web apps"!  Yes, our lock-in stuff runs on Linux. Look how cool it
is.  "Create new online experiences beyond video and audio by supporting 
Microsoft's .NET programming languages"!

"...Committed to interoperability with Linux."

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

-Bill


P.S.  "Moonlight".  How appropriate is that?
      "Enter of your own free will"...



________________________________________________________________
> Silverlight For Linux
> 
> (Page 2 of 2) September 5, 2007 09:30 AM 
> 
> Microsoft(MSFT) also announced Wednesday that in reaction to customer
> demand it will be working with Novell(NOVL) to create and support a
> version of Silverlight that will run on Linux. The level of Microsoft's
> support of Novell in this project over the coming months could serve as
> an indicator for how much Microsoft is committed to interoperability
> with Linux, which the company has touted repeatedly this year. Novell's
> Silverlight implementation, known as Moonlight, is currently in an early
> test version and should be out in the next six months, Goldfarb said.
> Microsoft is already offering a version of Silverlight for the Macintosh
> operating system. 
> 
> Though Wednesday's announcement is about Silverlight 1.0, Microsoft is
> also hard at work on Silverlight 1.1, which will add a significant
> amount of power to create new online experiences beyond video and audio
> by supporting Microsoft's .NET programming languages. In May, Microsoft
> architect evangelist Alexander Strauss posted a possible release date
> for Silverlight of next spring on his blog, but Goldfarb said
> Microsoft's now on track to have Silverlight 1.1 out by next summer.
> 
> Along with Silverlight itself, Microsoft Wednesday released a
> Silverlight encoding and publishing tool called Expression Encoder 1.0.
> The company has Silverlight-related plug-ins for both its developer and
> designer product suites, Visual Studio and Expression Studio
> respectively, and is offering a hosting service called Silverlight
> Streaming for developers to create Silverlight content and stream it
> directly from Microsoft Web servers.
> 
> Microsoft also launched a partner initiative around Silverlight with
> more than 35 partners signed up to support the technology, including
> content delivery networks like Akamai and Limelight, design agencies,
> software and hardware vendors and systems integrators. Notably absent
> from the announcement were cable companies and major broadcasting
> networks.