Ximian CTO Miguel de Icaza to Demonstrate Mono Project Success at O'Reilly Open Source Convention

Mono Developers Now Able to Build Microsoft.NET Compatible Applications on Linux and UNIX Using ASP.NET, ADO.NET

BOSTON, MA — July 22, 2002: Ximian, Inc., the leading open source desktop company, today announced that Miguel de Icaza, Ximian™ CTO, will be participating in the O'Reilly Open Source Convention to showcase new functionality related to the Mono Project. The Mono Project is a community initiative launched by Ximian to develop an open source version of the Microsoft® .NET development platform for Linux and UNIX. Specifically, de Icaza will demonstrate how Mono developers can use Linux to develop and run applications based on a number of .NET specifications, including ASP.NET and ADO.NET. For the first time, an audience will witness how the Mono Project provides broad flexibility to developers, enabling solutions that harness the full functionality of .NET on Linux and UNIX systems across a variety of architectures.

The O'Reilly Open Source Convention is being held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina in San Diego, Calif., from July 22-26. De Icaza will be leading two sessions on the Mono Project, both on Wednesday, July 24. The first, "Introducing Mono," will be held in Grand Ballroom C beginning at 4:30 p.m., and the second, "Developing with Mono," will be held in Harbor Island II at 5:15 p.m.

De Icaza's discussions showcase an extraordinary first year for the Mono Project, which was initiated by Ximian on July 9, 2001. The project aims to give developers a set of open source tools for building .NET applications that can run on Windows or any Mono-supported platform, including Linux and UNIX. Incorporating key .NET compliant components, including a C# (pronounced C-sharp) compiler, a Common Language Runtime just-in-time compiler, a precise garbage collection system based on the Intel® Open Runtime Platform and a full suite of class libraries, the Mono Project extends the functionality of .NET to the open source developer community.

"The goal of the project is to help developers take advantage of the extraordinary power of the .NET architecture within their native open source environments," said de Icaza. "The demonstrations at the conference highlight how, by using Mono, developers will be able to build and execute .NET applications on Linux and UNIX. The end result is better applications built more quickly across a host of supported platforms."

During his presentations, de Icaza will highlight the broad developer benefits of the Mono Project, including dramatic productivity gains and the ability to develop and deploy applications across supported Mono platforms. Among other items, he will demonstrate how the Mono framework can build Linux Web applications based on Microsoft's ASP.NET framework. ASP.NET is a set of technologies that allows developers to develop Web-based methods of accessing and working with legacy and other enterprise data from sources that are also based on Mono or .NET. Ultimately, the Mono Project will allow developers to write Web services applications that can run on Linux and UNIX systems. In addition, de Icaza will demonstrate how Mono developers can utilize ADO.NET, Microsoft's framework for accessing back-end databases, to build more comprehensive Mono solutions.

Mono Milestones

At the same time, de Icaza will note the community achievements of the Mono Project to date. These milestones include:

• Contributions from more than 90 developers around the world.
• The completion of a fast run-time (JIT) engine.
• A self-hosting C# compiler, which can also compile its class libraries.
• More than 520,000 lines of code.
• Significant support from developers at Intel, Hewlett-Packard and other companies actively involved in .NET and Web services development.

Mono Project achievements also include two efforts to create better development tools for the GNOME open source developer environment. The Gtk# project allows developers to use C# to create new streamlined GNOME applications, while the Vorbis# effort enables decoding of specific streaming files within the GNOME environment. While not directly related to .NET, these initiatives indicate the Mono Project's success in enabling GNOME developers to build better applications more efficiently.

"This is a community project, and part of the discussions at the conference will highlight how, as a community, we have made significant progress in providing a broad set of functionality to help developers build better applications," said de Icaza. "With the fundamental Mono technologies in place, our Mono Project community can move forward to enable developers to harness the full power of .NET. We continue to invite the contributions and insight of other developers who would like to join our efforts."

For more information about Mono, visit the Ximian web site at http://www.ximian.com/mono or the Mono Project web site at http://www.go-mono.com/.

About Ximian, Inc.

Ximian is the established leader in providing open source desktop technology, applications, support and services for the Linux and UNIX marketplaces. Ximian products, in use by over 1,000,000 people worldwide, are providing the ease of use, productivity and interoperability needed to propel the adoption of the Linux desktop in corporate computing environments. Its Ximian Desktop software starts with Ximian GNOME, a productized end-user desktop based on the GNOME project, to provide a complete graphical desktop environment and productivity application suite for Linux and UNIX systems. Ximian Red Carpet™ and Ximian Evolution™ deliver software and personal information management solutions for both end users and corporate customers. Comprised of many of the original architects of the GNOME system, Ximian is a founding member of the GNOME Foundation and sits on the advisory board. The company has secured funding from leading venture firms Charles River Ventures and Battery Ventures and can be reached at http://www.ximian.com/.