4 ms·

Xamarin's stuff looks really nice, but I really wish they had a non-profit free tier. I can't even make opensource Android apps without paying a lot. The other

by lucian1900 14y ago

Xamarin's stuff looks really nice, but I really wish they had a non-profit free tier. I can't even make opensource Android apps without paying a lot. The other problem is the lack of linux support for their SDK. Seems rather odd, considering Mono's roots.

natfriedman 14y ago
It personally pains me not to support Linux, but we get such a tiny fraction of our customer base coming from Linux that it isn't worth it. Not to mention that there is effectively no "Linux" platform and you have to select a subset of distro versions.
- lucian1900 14y ago
  I'm sure most people would be ok with an Ubuntu version. Perhaps more of your customers would use Linux for Xamarin stuff if it was available?
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- jevinskie 14y ago
  Yes we support Linux at our shop and testing/packaging is difficult. Doubly so for embedded customers that frequently want to use old/obscure distros (probably due to a cross tool chain requirement).
untog 14y ago
The other problem is the lack of linux support for their SDK. Seems rather odd, considering Mono's roots. I suspect that they make the vast majority of their profit on MonoTouch (Mono for Android is great, but Java and C# are similar enough that there is a lower barrier). With that in mind, there isn't much point in focusing on Linux- you can't develop for Mac or iOS on it.
- natfriedman 14y ago
  Actually Android and iOS make an equal amount of money for us. This was not true a year ago, when iOS sales were about 65% of our volume, but today it is almost exactly 50-50.
  - untog 14y ago
    Interesting. I'll admit, my draw to the platform is a 50/50 split between disliking Objective C (/XCode) and the possibility of sharing code between Android and iOS versions of an app. I guess more people are with you for the latter than the former these days.
  - shadowmint 14y ago
    I have to say it definitely feels like you guys are paying more attention to the MonoDroid things these days. Great work on the recent release BTW~
cooldeal 14y ago
>The other problem is the lack of linux support for their SDK. Seems rather odd, considering Mono's roots. Didn't Mono get a lot of hate and vitriol from the Linux crowd over their support for C# and .NET on Linux and then was pulled from Ubuntu's default install because of it? I can understand why they would be shy about support if all they got were brickbats and hate mail. http://np237.livejournal.com/24065.html http://np237.livejournal.com/24065.html http://techrights.org/2008/03/24/mono-danger-to-linux/ http://techrights.org/2008/03/24/mono-danger-to-linux/ http://techrights.org/2011/11/04/uds-on-mono/ http://techrights.org/2011/11/04/uds-on-mono/ http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/222227/bansheegeddon-sees-banshee-mono-dropped-ubuntu-default http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/222227/bansheeg... http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/06/15/1251228/Mono-Squeezed-Into-Debian-Default-Installation http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/06/15/1251228/Mono-Squeez... The first link is a very entertaining read.
- koenigdavidmj 14y ago
  I thought that their removal from Ubuntu's default installation was simply that it's a large set of libraries that kept made it hard to keep the image under the size of a CD. And once Tomboy got ported to C++ (Gnote is almost exactly the same thing), it wasn't really necessary anymore.
  - reidrac 14y ago
    Besides the "Mono wave" on Gnome seems gone. Now there are some guys pushing Vala, and it reminds me the time when Mono was the future of Gnome. https://live.gnome.org/Vala https://live.gnome.org/Vala Several Gnome applications have been rewritten in Vala and, having contributed a patch to Déjà Dup, I find it's a language easy to hack coming from a C/Java/C# background. I always found interesting that Mono could have been a good thing for Gnome and because of the Microsoft influence in the language (or .NET platform, I'm no expert) it never happened. EDIT: ate a word

natfriedman 14y ago

It personally pains me not to support Linux, but we get such a tiny fraction of our customer base coming from Linux that it isn't worth it. Not to mention that there is effectively no "Linux" platform and you have to select a subset of distro versions.

lucian1900 14y ago
I'm sure most people would be ok with an Ubuntu version. Perhaps more of your customers would use Linux for Xamarin stuff if it was available?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
jevinskie 14y ago
Yes we support Linux at our shop and testing/packaging is difficult. Doubly so for embedded customers that frequently want to use old/obscure distros (probably due to a cross tool chain requirement).

untog 14y ago

The other problem is the lack of linux support for their SDK. Seems rather odd, considering Mono's roots. I suspect that they make the vast majority of their profit on MonoTouch (Mono for Android is great, but Java and C# are similar enough that there is a lower barrier). With that in mind, there isn't much point in focusing on Linux- you can't develop for Mac or iOS on it.

natfriedman 14y ago
Actually Android and iOS make an equal amount of money for us. This was not true a year ago, when iOS sales were about 65% of our volume, but today it is almost exactly 50-50.
- untog 14y ago
  Interesting. I'll admit, my draw to the platform is a 50/50 split between disliking Objective C (/XCode) and the possibility of sharing code between Android and iOS versions of an app. I guess more people are with you for the latter than the former these days.
- shadowmint 14y ago
  I have to say it definitely feels like you guys are paying more attention to the MonoDroid things these days. Great work on the recent release BTW~

cooldeal 14y ago

>The other problem is the lack of linux support for their SDK. Seems rather odd, considering Mono's roots. Didn't Mono get a lot of hate and vitriol from the Linux crowd over their support for C# and .NET on Linux and then was pulled from Ubuntu's default install because of it? I can understand why they would be shy about support if all they got were brickbats and hate mail. http://np237.livejournal.com/24065.html http://np237.livejournal.com/24065.html http://techrights.org/2008/03/24/mono-danger-to-linux/ http://techrights.org/2008/03/24/mono-danger-to-linux/ http://techrights.org/2011/11/04/uds-on-mono/ http://techrights.org/2011/11/04/uds-on-mono/ http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/222227/bansheegeddon-sees-banshee-mono-dropped-ubuntu-default http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/222227/bansheeg... http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/06/15/1251228/Mono-Squeezed-Into-Debian-Default-Installation http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/06/15/1251228/Mono-Squeez... The first link is a very entertaining read.

koenigdavidmj 14y ago
I thought that their removal from Ubuntu's default installation was simply that it's a large set of libraries that kept made it hard to keep the image under the size of a CD. And once Tomboy got ported to C++ (Gnote is almost exactly the same thing), it wasn't really necessary anymore.
- reidrac 14y ago
  Besides the "Mono wave" on Gnome seems gone. Now there are some guys pushing Vala, and it reminds me the time when Mono was the future of Gnome. https://live.gnome.org/Vala https://live.gnome.org/Vala Several Gnome applications have been rewritten in Vala and, having contributed a patch to Déjà Dup, I find it's a language easy to hack coming from a C/Java/C# background. I always found interesting that Mono could have been a good thing for Gnome and because of the Microsoft influence in the language (or .NET platform, I'm no expert) it never happened. EDIT: ate a word