Why does Mono exist? [closed]

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Closed 11 years ago.

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I know what Mono is but I don't understand why it exists. Why do Novell sponsor the project? I ask the question because I would like to use Mono but I have concerns over its future/commitment. If I better understood why the projects exists I'd feel better about using/recommending it.

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How else would any .NET code run on Unix/Linux/iOs?

It exists because Miguel De Icaza saw .NET, liked it and wanted to have it available on Linux. Knowing that Microsoft will probably not port the platform, he decided to do it himself.

Since the code is open source, it is not going away anywhere.

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I don't have any inside dope, but I'm not aware of a story other than an interested party that knew Microsoft was unlikely to port .NET to *nix platforms took on the task. It started as open source and picked up Novell sponsorship after it achieved some measure of success.

I don't believe a "better" story would help you feel more comfortable about recommending it. No one knows the future, and Novell's sponsorship isn't a guarantee of success.