We’re in the flame season it seems. 
After a massive flame on a recent news, Carla Schroder invites Mono proponents to get their facts straight.
Ubuntu Is Driving Me Away struck some nerves yesterday, with 43 talkbacks and still going. The issue presented in the article seems fairly simple: given the controversy surrounding Mono, some folks feel that Mono and Mono applications should not be included on the Ubuntu installation CD. There are other, better applications that could be included, and that the pressure to include Mono by default is not about its merits, but forcing Microsoft technologies and its unholy embrace into Ubuntu.
Mono fans have been creating a giant ruckus in the Ubuntu forums, and even here have made some fur fly, and have not bothered to say why removing Mono from the Ubuntu installation CD and simply including it in the standard repos is not acceptable. It will be available for anyone who wants it, just like the majority of Ubuntu packages. The inability of Mono fans to answer that simple question has me a bit bothered, as though there is a deeper agenda.
Rather, the discussion here has been primarily about why Mono is not a threat to Linux, after all it is GPL, and nobody should be upset by it. As discussions tend to be fractured, wandering, and emotional, I think that a calm presentation of why Mono is desirable, why it is not a threat, and why it should be included in Ubuntu by default would be beneficial. Write it up, plain text with simple HTML tags for paragraph and line breaks, and email it to me at cschroder@internet.com and I will publish it as soon as I receive it. Say anything you want, keeping in mind of course the LT TOS, which in a nutshell is no swear words and no personal attacks.
I extended this same invitation in the Talkbacks yesterday and so far have no takers. Comments do get overlooked in long threads, so here it is again out in plain view. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing what people have to say.
Go go go little crusaders, send your 10 commandments to cschroder@internet.com. They’ll be published as soon as they arrive.
Update: Jo Shields sent a long and detailed response to LinuxToday. I’m not linking every response sent there, but this one is well written and I feel it may be quite representative of the stance of Mono proposers.
You might want to help aggregate this: http://www2.apebox.org/wordpress/rants/124/ to have a balanced view on your Mono coverage. Surely, you’re not one of the Mono fundamentalists?
@Ketil: not sure how can I help.
No, I’m not a fundamentalist to any extent.
By aggregating both sides of the Mono story, as was pretty obvious in my comment when I said “to have a balanced view on your Mono coverage”.
I’m sure you would want to not only show one side on this ongoing debate, but let your readers decide by having viewed and understood both sides. That’s only fair, right?
@Ketil: not sure about what you meant for ‘aggregating’. I updated my post with the link to Jo’s response, as it’s well written. Hope this was what you meant.
Your blog is aggregated on Ubuntu users, so you providing the link to that article could spread knowledge, that’s what I meant. Really great that you updated your post with this, that was my thought