4 ms·

So Xamarin buys RoboVM, then a couple of months later MS buys Xamarin and kills RoboVM. Feels like the MS of the 90's is back.

by Yrlec 10y ago

giancarlostoro 10y ago
I forgot all about this, then they're likely doing it because of Oracle likely to avoid a hailstorm.
- Yrlec 10y ago
  Or they just want to make Java less competitive to C#.
  - oblio 10y ago
    On the other hand, after what happened the last time they used Java (back in the "embrace, extend, extinguish" days), I think they wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Though I do hope that they'll make the sources available. It's not like just a code dump will suddenly transform into viable competition for Xamarin.
  - bossmojoman 10y ago
    Or they saw what Google just went through with Oracle and decided it's not worth it
    - giancarlostoro 10y ago
      I think it's a mixture of: what Microsoft went through with J++ (which is totally not what inspired C# cough) where they got sued for basically turning Java into Windows only, and what Google has gone through, which still makes me wonder with all their talents why they either don't invest in an entirely new language or find an alternative to Java that would be friendlier to be on their platform. I understand legacy apps and what not, but Oracle doesn't even want to help them out which could of been for their own benefit. Anyway, yeah... corporation owned programming languages...
  - pjmlp 10y ago
    Oracle already did that by not caring one second in providing Java compilers for iOS and WP. The only thing they are supporting is some hybrid framework that wraps ADP into some Java version of Cordova. http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/maf/overview/index.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/maf/overvi... With offers like that, no other everyone that favours native has mostly went C# or C++.
- kristianp 10y ago
  I've seen a couple of mentions of Oracle in this thread, implying Oracle would sue over copying of APIs I imagine. Is there any basis to the FUD here? What APIs did robovm copy?
bitmapbrother 10y ago
I agree. The timing of events is no coincidence. This is nothing more than trying to eliminate a competing technology from the cross platform development choices. I hope Google is serious about making Swift a first class language on Android. That would pretty much derail any ambitions MS might have had to make C# the language from cross platform mobile development.
Touche 10y ago
Sounds like any company that buys another company for X and doesn't need/want Y or Z. Downsizing isn't a "Microsoft in the 90s" thing.
- Yrlec 10y ago
  Killing a well functioning piece of technology instead of open sourcing it is not just downsizing. MS is applying their "Embrace, extend, and exterminate" strategy to cross platform mobile development.
  - sremani 10y ago
    It happens all the time, companies unload unwanted or unaligned assets to focus on their roadmap and strategies. RoboVM should pick a page from Xamarin and buy out IP and support from mothership.
  - Touche 10y ago
    That's ridiculous, what % of software companies open source the software they kill? 0.1% maybe? Did Google open source Reader or Dodgeball when it killed those?
    - Yrlec 10y ago
      Google was heavily criticized for killing Reader. Why should we not criticize Microsoft?
      - Touche 10y ago
        Criticize them all you want but "Feels like the MS of the 90's is back." isn't criticism it's FUD meant to invoke fears of how closed down software was back then.
        st3v3r 10y ago
        It's not FUD if it's true.

So Xamarin buys RoboVM, then a couple of months later MS buys Xamarin and kills RoboVM. Feels like the MS of the 90's is back.

by Yrlec 10y ago

So Xamarin buys RoboVM, then a couple of months later MS buys Xamarin and kills RoboVM. Feels like the MS of the 90's is back.

giancarlostoro 10y ago

I forgot all about this, then they're likely doing it because of Oracle likely to avoid a hailstorm.

Yrlec 10y ago
Or they just want to make Java less competitive to C#.
- oblio 10y ago
  On the other hand, after what happened the last time they used Java (back in the "embrace, extend, extinguish" days), I think they wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Though I do hope that they'll make the sources available. It's not like just a code dump will suddenly transform into viable competition for Xamarin.
- bossmojoman 10y ago
  Or they saw what Google just went through with Oracle and decided it's not worth it
  - giancarlostoro 10y ago
    I think it's a mixture of: what Microsoft went through with J++ (which is totally not what inspired C# cough) where they got sued for basically turning Java into Windows only, and what Google has gone through, which still makes me wonder with all their talents why they either don't invest in an entirely new language or find an alternative to Java that would be friendlier to be on their platform. I understand legacy apps and what not, but Oracle doesn't even want to help them out which could of been for their own benefit. Anyway, yeah... corporation owned programming languages...
- pjmlp 10y ago
  Oracle already did that by not caring one second in providing Java compilers for iOS and WP. The only thing they are supporting is some hybrid framework that wraps ADP into some Java version of Cordova. http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/maf/overview/index.html http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/maf/overvi... With offers like that, no other everyone that favours native has mostly went C# or C++.
kristianp 10y ago
I've seen a couple of mentions of Oracle in this thread, implying Oracle would sue over copying of APIs I imagine. Is there any basis to the FUD here? What APIs did robovm copy?

bitmapbrother 10y ago

I agree. The timing of events is no coincidence. This is nothing more than trying to eliminate a competing technology from the cross platform development choices. I hope Google is serious about making Swift a first class language on Android. That would pretty much derail any ambitions MS might have had to make C# the language from cross platform mobile development.

Touche 10y ago

Sounds like any company that buys another company for X and doesn't need/want Y or Z. Downsizing isn't a "Microsoft in the 90s" thing.

Yrlec 10y ago
Killing a well functioning piece of technology instead of open sourcing it is not just downsizing. MS is applying their "Embrace, extend, and exterminate" strategy to cross platform mobile development.
- sremani 10y ago
  It happens all the time, companies unload unwanted or unaligned assets to focus on their roadmap and strategies. RoboVM should pick a page from Xamarin and buy out IP and support from mothership.
- Touche 10y ago
  That's ridiculous, what % of software companies open source the software they kill? 0.1% maybe? Did Google open source Reader or Dodgeball when it killed those?
  - Yrlec 10y ago
    Google was heavily criticized for killing Reader. Why should we not criticize Microsoft?
    - Touche 10y ago
      Criticize them all you want but "Feels like the MS of the 90's is back." isn't criticism it's FUD meant to invoke fears of how closed down software was back then.
      - st3v3r 10y ago
        It's not FUD if it's true.