Portable.NET
Encyclopedia
Part of the DotGNU
project, Portable.NET is a free software
and open source software initiative aiming to build a portable
toolchain
and runtime
for Common Language Infrastructure
applications. The project focuses on compatibility with the ECMA
-334 and ECMA-335 standards and support for .NET's base class libraries, XML, and Windows Forms
. the latest release of Portable.NET is 0.8.0. The project supports a number of different CPU architectures and operating system
s.
It was originally started by Norbert Bollow and Rhys Weatherley, at that time director of Southern Storm Software, Pty Ltd. After Rhys Weatherley and many up-to-date developers quit development of Portable.NET, Klaus Treichel, Kirill Kononenko, Radek Polak, Aleksey Demakov continued development and design of Portable.NET Just-In-Time compiler
and LibJIT Just-In-Time compilation
library.
for standardization has been the source of patent violation concerns for much of the life of the project. In particular, discussion has taken place about whether Microsoft could destroy the Portable.NET project through patent suits.
The base technologies submitted to the ECMA may be non-problematic. The concerns primarily relate to technologies developed by Microsoft on top of the .NET Framework, such as ASP.NET
, ADO.NET
and Windows Forms
(see Non standardized namespaces), i.e. parts composing Portable.NET’s Windows compatibility stack. These technologies are today not fully implemented in Portable.NET and not required for developing Portable.NET-applications.
's news website in June 2009, Richard Stallman
warned that he believes "Microsoft is probably planning to force all free C# implementations underground some day using software patents" and recommended that developers avoid taking what he described as the "gratuitous risk" associated with "depend[ing] on the free C# implementations", including Portable.NET.
DotGNU
DotGNU is a part of the GNU Project that aims to provide a free software replacement for Microsoft's .NET Framework by Free Software Foundation...
project, Portable.NET is a free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source software initiative aiming to build a portable
Portability
Portability may refer to:*Portability , the portability of social security benefits*Software portability, the portability of a piece of software to multiple platforms...
toolchain
Toolchain
In software, a toolchain is the set of programming tools that are used to create a product...
and runtime
Run-time system
A run-time system is a software component designed to support the execution of computer programs written in some computer language...
for Common Language Infrastructure
Common Language Infrastructure
The Common Language Infrastructure is an open specification developed by Microsoft and standardized by ISO and ECMA that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft .NET Framework and the free and open source implementations Mono and Portable.NET...
applications. The project focuses on compatibility with the ECMA
Ecma International
Ecma International is an international, private non-profit standards organization for information and communication systems. It acquired its name in 1994, when the European Computer Manufacturers Association changed its name to reflect the organization's global reach and activities...
-334 and ECMA-335 standards and support for .NET's base class libraries, XML, and Windows Forms
Windows Forms
Windows Forms is the name given to the graphical application programming interface included as a part of Microsoft .NET Framework, providing access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements by wrapping the extant Windows API in managed code...
. the latest release of Portable.NET is 0.8.0. The project supports a number of different CPU architectures and operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s.
It was originally started by Norbert Bollow and Rhys Weatherley, at that time director of Southern Storm Software, Pty Ltd. After Rhys Weatherley and many up-to-date developers quit development of Portable.NET, Klaus Treichel, Kirill Kononenko, Radek Polak, Aleksey Demakov continued development and design of Portable.NET Just-In-Time compiler
Just-in-time compilation
In computing, just-in-time compilation , also known as dynamic translation, is a method to improve the runtime performance of computer programs. Historically, computer programs had two modes of runtime operation, either interpreted or static compilation...
and LibJIT Just-In-Time compilation
Just-in-time compilation
In computing, just-in-time compilation , also known as dynamic translation, is a method to improve the runtime performance of computer programs. Historically, computer programs had two modes of runtime operation, either interpreted or static compilation...
library.
Portable.NET and Microsoft’s patents
Portable.NET’s implementation of those components of the .NET stack not submitted to the ECMAECMA
Ecma or ECMA may refer to:* Ecma International, an international standards organization for Information Communication Technology and Consumer Electronics* Engineering College Magazines Associated, a group of student-run engineering-based publications...
for standardization has been the source of patent violation concerns for much of the life of the project. In particular, discussion has taken place about whether Microsoft could destroy the Portable.NET project through patent suits.
The base technologies submitted to the ECMA may be non-problematic. The concerns primarily relate to technologies developed by Microsoft on top of the .NET Framework, such as ASP.NET
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
, ADO.NET
ADO.NET
ADO.NET is a set of computer software components that programmers can use to access data and data services. It is a part of the base class library that is included with the Microsoft .NET Framework. It is commonly used by programmers to access and modify data stored in relational database systems,...
and Windows Forms
Windows Forms
Windows Forms is the name given to the graphical application programming interface included as a part of Microsoft .NET Framework, providing access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements by wrapping the extant Windows API in managed code...
(see Non standardized namespaces), i.e. parts composing Portable.NET’s Windows compatibility stack. These technologies are today not fully implemented in Portable.NET and not required for developing Portable.NET-applications.
Free Software Foundation's warnings
In a note posted on the Free Software FoundationFree Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
's news website in June 2009, Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
warned that he believes "Microsoft is probably planning to force all free C# implementations underground some day using software patents" and recommended that developers avoid taking what he described as the "gratuitous risk" associated with "depend[ing] on the free C# implementations", including Portable.NET.
See also
- LibJIT - A library by Rhys Weatherley, Norbert Bollow, Kirill Kononenko, Klaus Treichel, Aleksey Demakov for development of advanced Just-In-Time compilationJust-in-time compilationIn computing, just-in-time compilation , also known as dynamic translation, is a method to improve the runtime performance of computer programs. Historically, computer programs had two modes of runtime operation, either interpreted or static compilation...
in Virtual MachineVirtual machineA virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...
implementations, Dynamic programming languageDynamic programming languageDynamic programming language is a term used broadly in computer science to describe a class of high-level programming languages that execute at runtime many common behaviors that other languages might perform during compilation, if at all...
s, and Scripting languages. - Comparison of application virtual machinesComparison of Application Virtual MachinesThis article lists some software virtual machines that are typically used for allowing application bytecode to be portably run on many different computer architectures and operating systems. The application is usually run on the computer using an interpreter or just-in-time compilation...
- DotGNUDotGNUDotGNU is a part of the GNU Project that aims to provide a free software replacement for Microsoft's .NET Framework by Free Software Foundation...
- A completely free software implementation of ECMA standard .NET - MonoMono (software)Mono, pronounced , is a free and open source project led by Xamarin to create an Ecma standard compliant .NET-compatible set of tools including, among others, a C# compiler and a Common Language Runtime....
- a Free SoftwareFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
Microsoft.NETMicrosoft.netMicrosoft.net may refer to:*Microsoft.com, the official Microsoft's website*.NET Framework, a software component that is a part of Microsoft Windows operating systems...
implementation. - Common Language RuntimeCommon Language RuntimeThe Common Language Runtime is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET framework and is responsible for managing the execution of .NET programs. In a process known as just-in-time compilation, the CLR compiles the intermediate language code known as CIL into the machine instructions...
- Shared Source Common Language InfrastructureShared Source Common Language InfrastructureThe Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure , previously codenamed Rotor, is Microsoft's shared source implementation of the CLI, the core of .NET. Although the SSCLI is not suitable for commercial use due to its license, it does make it possible for programmers to examine the implementation...
- Microsoft's shared source implementation of .NET, previously codenamed Rotor - OSADLOSADLThe Open Source Automation Development Lab eG was founded on December 8, 2005 and assigned the cooperative register number 440085 at the Stuttgart, Germany, District Court in August 2006...
- Open Source Automation Development Lab