C# and the CLI gets Microsoft Community Promise

I’ve just read on Miguel de Icaza’s blog that both C# and the CLI are getting the Microsoft Community Promise patent licensing applied to them.  That basically means that MS promise not to sue anyone for implementing the specs, regardless of how they do it.  Quite timely given my recent post.

From the announcement:

It is important to note that, under the Community Promise, anyone can freely implement these specifications with their technology, code, and solutions.

You do not need to sign a license agreement, or otherwise communicate to Microsoft how you will implement the specifications.

The Promise applies to developers, distributors, and users of Covered Implementations without regard to the development model that created the implementations, the type of copyright licenses under which it is distributed, or the associated business model.

Under the Community Promise, Microsoft provides assurance that it will not assert its Necessary Claims against anyone who makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, imports, or distributes any Covered Implementation under any type of development or distribution model, including open-source licensing models such as the LGPL or GPL.

Good news for Mono.  Maybe some of the anti-Mono types will back off a bit now; although some how I doubt it.