.NET programming in Linux

[redoktober]

Hey there!

I'm into the .NET framework, and recently, I've also gained interest in Linux. Now, to reconcile these 2 opposite technologies, I can either:
-->Use Mono, which only supports C#;
OR
-->Install Wine, and run Microsoft's .NET SDK on top of the Wine layer.

The thing is, I've absolutely no idea which path to follow, or even which Linux distro would be best for this. Can anyone please, please help???

[Solar]

If you want to do GUI, Mono won't help you.

Other than that, I usually prefer "native" solutions, i.e. Mono.

[redoktober]

oh, heck.

well, that solves it.
i stick to good ol' windows for now...

thanks, mate!

[jal]

If you want to do GUI, Mono won't help you.

Not true, the latest versions have support for forms.

Other than that, I usually prefer "native" solutions, i.e. Mono.

I highly doubt .NET runs on Wine.


JAL

[Solar]

If you want to do GUI, Mono won't help you.

Not true, the latest versions have support for forms.

D'OH!



/me takes a bow before the Mono guys. Excellent work! I guess that's the moment I start digging into C#...

[redoktober]

okay...

now, i went to the wine website, and checked their appdb.
it showed screenshots, which depicted visual c# 2008 express running in what looked like a fedora installation.

i really don't want to waste time in downloading fedora and wine, installing them, trying to run . c# ide, and then finding out that it's not working.
should i 'believe' the screenshots???

thanks a lot!

[AndrewAPrice]

I would go for Mono. Since it's a native and stable .Net implementation that will run on Linux.

There is a neat feature-complete IDE called MonoDevelop; autocomplete, source control integration, GUI designer, supports multiple .Net languages - it's all there!

I would recommend against running .Net through Wine. I tend to have issues and random crashes when using programs with Wine, and several API functions are incomplete or don't do what's expected. So while it's possible it will work, I don't recommend it, especially when doing development because it's far less stable that Mono and since you're using it for development and your program crashes how do you know if it's your fault or Wine's? Also Visual Studio is a complex suite of programs and it's debugger embeds heavily into the underlying OS, so I'm not sure how Wine will handle that.

Do you really want to use Visual Studio's IDE? If so I would recommend running it through VMWare Fusion (so it's running natively on a virtualised Windows system). Otherwise I'd stick with MonoDevelop, and don't have to mess with any tricky compatibility issues.

[Steve the Pirate]

Not true, the latest versions have support for forms.

If by 'latest versions' you mean the last five or six... But some parts of Windows forms in Mono aren't perfect, and it looks out of place on a Linux desktop, so I'd recommend using GTK# if you really want to use it.

[DeletedAccount]

Hello,
You may take a look at rotor as well .

Regards
Shrek

[B.E]

Hey there!

I'm into the .NET framework, and recently, I've also gained interest in Linux. Now, to reconcile these 2 opposite technologies, I can either:
-->Use Mono, which only supports C#;
OR
-->Install Wine, and run Microsoft's .NET SDK on top of the Wine layer.

The thing is, I've absolutely no idea which path to follow, or even which Linux distro would be best for this. Can anyone please, please help???

OR
-->Not use .NET and use a proper cross platform framework/technology (e.g. Java)

The problem is Micrsoft's .NET framework is proprietary. .NET is know as a closed standard, which means that it has the standards organization approval (which is controlled by Microsoft) but only Microsoft can legally implement it (another more known closed-standard is OOXML).

There are plenty open source/cross platform frameworks out there that do exactly the same thing as .NET.

[JohnnyTheDon]

Hey there!

I'm into the .NET framework, and recently, I've also gained interest in Linux. Now, to reconcile these 2 opposite technologies, I can either:
-->Use Mono, which only supports C#;
OR
-->Install Wine, and run Microsoft's .NET SDK on top of the Wine layer.

The thing is, I've absolutely no idea which path to follow, or even which Linux distro would be best for this. Can anyone please, please help???

OR
-->Not use .NET and use a proper cross platform framework/technology (e.g. Java)

The problem is Micrsoft's .NET framework is proprietary. .NET is know as a closed standard, which means that it has the standards organization approval (which is controlled by Microsoft) but only Microsoft can legally implement it (another more known closed-standard is OOXML).

There are plenty open source/cross platform frameworks out there that do exactly the same thing as .NET.

I've never been a propenent of Microsoft, but CLR isn't a closed standard. In fact, its published with ECMA. IIRC Java isn't truly and open standard. I remember reading something about it technically being owned by Sun. Might be wrong, but either way CLR isn't closed.

[AndrewAPrice]

I've never been a propenent of Microsoft, but CLR isn't a closed standard. In fact, its published with ECMA. IIRC Java isn't truly and open standard. I remember reading something about it technically being owned by Sun. Might be wrong, but either way CLR isn't closed.

Exactly, and judging by B.E's signature I say his reply was written out of hatred for MS rather than research...

[redoktober]

haha.....

okay, i think i've reached a possible solution.

1>dual boot windows and linux on my 80 GB disk.
2>install the usual windows sdk, ddk , ifs and visual studio 2008 on my windows partition.
3> install mono and monodevelop on the linux partition.

what do you say?

yeah, funnily enough, the common language specifications are available to 3rd partis through ECMA, and that's how novell developed mono...on the other hand, java's specs are still under sun's hands, although several 3rd party JVMs exist, like kaffe and sablevm..

but, i have one last soup to clean up.
which linux distro should i use, to make max use of mono's libraries??

thanks for the help!

[redoktober]

bloody hell, shrek!

just had a look at rotor.
man, it's a bloody good idea!

technically, i could wield more power by going through the specs, 'cause i'd know what exactly's going on under the hood. even the common intermediate language couldn't tell me enough!

what's more, i could make my own version of the .NET Framework!
okay, that's something for much later!

thanks a ton, guys!

[DeletedAccount]

Any Linux distro should be fine .

Regards
Shrek