Re: http://www.fsf.org/news/dont-depend-on-mono

[Kevin Kofler]

Bill McGonigle wrote:
> With being tied up with ECMA and the various well-publicized efforts to
> get RAND licenses on them, these aren't the parts most people were
> worried about.

But the thing is, RAND does not necessarily mean royalty-free, let alone 
compatible with Free Software licenses (no royalty-based patent license is, 
and even royalty-free ones can have problematic restrictions). RAND just 
means they won't charge you more just because you like Fedora and hate M$, 
but it doesn't preclude them from charging a fee from every licensor (which 
is inherently incompatible with Free Software: while Free Software is about 
freedom, not cost, having to pay a patent holder for a license is NOT 
considered Free).

Kevin Kofler