.NET 5 -- One Framework, All Platforms and Open Source

At MSBuild Microsoft announced the future of .NET starting with .NET 5.
.NET Core, .NET Framework, Xamarin are all merging into a single cross platform open source framework, .NET 5.

Link:

[MofoMan]

I love writing code in C#, I'm glad it won't be limited to Windows or Mono anymore. Especially with Unity and Godot using these new .NETs.

[EhKurd]

As a developer, what Microsoft has been doing is so attractive, and the new terminal that is coming... man I'm so wet. Now if only they could remove the ads and shitware from Windows 10 and fix the privacy issues, would be perfect.

[BoscoDmello]

Finally Microsoft is doing what they were supposed to be doing 20 years ago. Windows + Linux = AWESOMENESS!!!

[RodrigoBadin]

Satya Nadella is the best thing that could happen on Microsoft.
All this opensourceness are thanks to his mindset.

[EminoMeneko]

I've been a MS lover
I've been a MS hater
And then I found balance.
I've been a Java lover.
I got introduced to .NET and C# and I'm loving it.
I'm optimistic for the future of .NET and C#.

[absalomdraconis]

One .NET to find them all and in the Github bind them.

[CrowJam]

I started programming 2 years ago, and when I saw C# and .NET I just had a hunch its gonna be really cool and powerful as time goes on. Glad I was right haha

[broganking]

Its amazing that people can think that far ahead. 2020 sounds like some futuristic sci-fi year that I can't comprehend.

[EricTViking]

Still no unified UI code though. You can use WinUI with it, but only on Windows. Looks like you still have to use something like Qt if you want to write once, run anywhere.

[SBDavin]

It's interesting to hear you think of Microsoft being predatory for introducing .NET in 2001. Granted, in the 90s, the Component Object Model (COM) platform was locking software onto Windows only and technically still is today (with a few exceptions.) But then why did Microsoft publish the .NET CLI standard with an outside standard committee if they wanted to keep everyone on a Microsoft platform? They published the specs of the .NET CLI with ECMA (ECMA-335), the same group that controls the standards for JavaScript (ECMAScript, ECMA-262). Microsoft also published the standards for C# with ECMA-334.
It was Microsoft's intention that outside developers could freely create their own implementations of .NET for other platforms. That's what the early Xamarin group did with Mono to run .NET on Linux, UNIX, and Apple. Other groups were also creating their own implementations, such as DotGNU.
Meanwhile, Sun (now owned by Oracle) has always controlled the Java standards internally and were quick to sue Microsoft over J++ (perhaps rightfully so) when Microsoft strayed from their set of standards with their own implementation.
Today, Microsoft has more OSS (3200+) repositories on GitHub than anyone else.

[ToryBerra]

They said .NET Core 4 would be super confusing because of how long .NET 4.x has been out so they are just jumping straight to 5.

[amisnerk]

Well I definitely don't think it's a trap. I just find it annoying that they split off a .NET Core and fragmented an already whole .NET only to reform it all back again later. That said, it's always good to right the ship and I feel like they're heading back on a good course.

[DWVoid]

Purely from a programmer's perspective, I think this is a very great move to unify everything, which enables way more elegant solutions than now we have. You could see the point by comparing to what we have now in Cpp, which is absolutely a big mess. That's just the goodies we can have by letting a single organization take charge of everything :D

[WutipongWongsakuldej]

I was using .net 1.0 beta (with irrlitch binding I think) long ago. Now I'm feeling old :-P.

[rezaghochkhani]

I personally love Microsoft! They go with the flow of the market. Back in the old days they could sell windows even thought there was a free operating system. That is really genius. Now the market requires cross platform integration and open source stuff and they are doing just that. those guys know exactly what to do and when!

[kodaloid]

The biggest advantage of using .NET is the ability to build desktop software, making WPF and WinForms a strongest selling point (I know there will be people who disagree with that, but it's the truth). WPF and WinForms will always be Windows specific though, which dampens my excitement a little for the move. Not that much is changing, however the update yesterday did break intellisense for me in visual studio on a work day, so thanks ms :)

[jnicoulakos]

My issue is follow through. Will this platform be dropped like others in the past. If so what is the life cycle for this platform?

[ravimohan]

Thanks for a good bird's eye view of the dot net environments.

[sergekgkg]

In 2001 I was thinking that Microsoft going to develop a Managed OS. Now, looks like we are going to .NET + Linux = Linux.NET ! Embedded, IoT

[jaysistar]

I'm pretty sure that Qt 5 used "One framework to rule them all!" from Lord of the Rings as well. I called them to ask about Nintento Wii U and 3DS support, and they said no, so I removed all Qt code from all of our stuff, and canceled our comercial licences. I'm not using anything that requires monetary payment, now. I might donate and/or contribute code, but Qt burned me. .Net does run on all of the platforms that I would want, but I can't control memory layout, so cache behavior I have found to be terrible.