I think this is true (from memory) Unity was already C# before phones and paid Mono to port it to the iPhone. That kicked off Mono realizing that these new pl

I think this is true (from memory) Unity was already C# before phones and paid Mono to port it to the iPhone. That kicked off Mono realizing that these new platforms could be a source of revenue, and charged for support. Their approach has been: Mono is free for free OS's and for pay for proprietary ones. Another driving force is that C#/VB.NET is very popular in the enterprise for Desktop apps. This pool of developers need something for phones/tablets and there's Mono just ready for them. Ruby/Python are not as good for desktop apps (more on servers) and phones, Macs, and tablets are not likely servers.