[Pc_Support] Re: .NET/MONO, MCAD/MCSD -- WAS: Jason Brooks' excellent SuSE Linux 9.3 evaluation ...

[Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org>]

From: "Justin M. Keyes" <m9u35g at gmail.com>
> Is this because of limitations you have noticed in Java,
> (philosophical or technical), or advantages of .NET?

Licensing, pure licensing.  Not even IBM's licenses on their
Java components (JRE, SWT, etc...) are "GPL compatible."
And for commercial, they require additional licensing.

Mono is GPL tools, LGPL libraries, BSD class libraries.
They have the support/interest of Intel, HP and many other entities.
I can make GPL, LGPL or whatever license I want of my software,
because they are dynamically linked to LGPL and statically linked to BSD.

> I'm really excited about Mono, because at work (a Windows shop) I use
> C# heavily. I too want to certify as MCSD. Are you planning on
> certifying in .NET 1.1, or .NET 2.0? Considering your massive
> experience with MCP certifications, is it worth having a certification
> in a previous version, or should I wait for .NET 2.0 to start my
> testing? Do they typically release new certifications in-line with the
> release of a new product version? (i.e., am I going to have to wait a
> long time after 2.0 is released to get a 2.0 certification?)

I'm planning on just getting .NET 1.1 for now.  I'm ramping up to get
my MCDBA on SQL Server 2000, since SQL Server 2005 still isn't available.

I haven't completed my MCSA/MCSE on Windows Server 2003 either.

> What books are you reading/recommend for the MCSD?

Most of the Que books.  Don't bother with the Exam Cram 2s, they are
just smaller versions of almost the exact same material as the full
Prep Logic versions.  In fact, some of the Prep Logic versions come with
good portions of the Exam Cram 2s on the CD.

> Have you found any good mailing lists for Mono or .NET (C#/ASP.NET)?
> The .NET SIGs in Florida don't seem to have any real mailing list.

Nope, not yet.  I haven't gotten into it too much yet, but soon will.
Given the MS-Sun alliance on development software, I suspect many
Java groups will view Mono users much like Linux groups view BSD
users.  Developers seem to be a different breed than users, must
like technical users are.

Of course, if they are Sun-sponsored, I'm not sure how that will play in.


--
Bryan J. Smith   mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org