RE: winforms for GUI?

Samuel M. Smith wrote:

...<big snip>...

>I am sure that .Net and Mono will be successful because Microsoft is=20
>pumping billions into .Net. And riding on Microsoft's=20
>coattails is always a safe bet.
>  The point is that
>Python freed me from having to depend on Microsoft(.Net C#) or=20
>Sun(Java) for my existence since there was little that
>I needed to do that a combination of Ansi C and Python couldn't do as=20
>well or better than C# or Java.
>With Pyrex even the C stuff got easy. I am not attracted to reverting=20
>back to intermediate languages like Java and C# when I can use=20
>Python and Pyrex C more efficaciously.
>
>The Python community has always been richer because it had a high=20
>degree of independence. .Net and by association Mono will=20
>always follow Microsoft's vision for how software should be=20
>created. Its a=20
>monoculture. The advantage of Mono is that you don't have to pay=20
>Microsoft for the priviledge of participating in their vision. C# and=20
>.Net are powerful tools but Python and its ecosystem are more viable=20
>for me.
>
>I had hoped Prothon would be a better Python but it sounds like you've=20
>become so enamoured with .Net and Mono in the last few days=20
>that you have lost sight of the vision you originally had for=20
>Prothon. =3D(
>
>>
>> I had never heard about Mono until this past weekend.  I have been
>> studying
>> up on it since then.  I am very impressed, to say the least.
>
>I have known about it for some time if only in passing.
>Excuse the analogy, but in my opinion, its like near beer for people=20
>who don't drink (like me). Somehow saying that
>.Net is open via Mono makes it not the same as being held captive to=20
>Microsoft proprietary software. It isn't captivity but then its not=20
>independence either.
>
>Of course maybe I just don't understand what you are now=20
>planning to do=20
>differently but my gut doesn't like it.
>
>Sorry for the rant.

No need to be sorry.  It was a good rant.  I understand where you are =
coming
from.  No less that Guido himself sent me a long email with similar
feelings.  I've just posted my reply to him here and on =
comp.lang.python.

I didn't really realize until Guido's message that it required a 20 =
megabyte
download to use .Net (he said 200 megs <grin> but he was corrected on
comp.lang.python).  That is a real drag and confirms some of your =
arguments.
I can see why it is such a big load though.  The library IS gigantic, =
which
can be a good thing.  Maybe it can be trimmed.

I was planning on making the Prothon download/install/run experience as
transparently like the Python experience as possible.  Now I see I've
already got the long download time as one problem.  I don't know yet if =
I
will run into other gotcha's.  If I don't, then I don't think this is
necessarily a killer problem.

In other words, as the prothon author and person responsible for the =
Prothon
experience, I will be assuming responsibility for the hiding of the =
imperial
forces and the dark star hiding within Prothon.  If or when I find out =
this
cannot be done, then I will admit I was wrong and give up.

Do you buy this argument?  If not, is it because you don't think it is
possible?  If not possible, then why?  What do you think I will run into
that will stop me?  I don't want to start down this road if it is a =
doomed
venture.

Comments?