M. Geeraerts:
Imho, weeding out and replacing potential weaknesess is very important. Just
as important is doing it with the right replacements so that it doesn't
detract from the user experience.
I agree in that very few things justify simply removing the software.
In this case, we're talking about substitution. Favoring Gnote instead of
tomboy because C# is a potential issue, well, I consider that a safety
measure. Also, it will encourage gnote developers to do a quick and good by
giving them recognition, and potentially attract developers to it, raising
awareness on the factibility of porting C# apps to C++.
As Gnote is a port of Tomboy and is fully compatible with its file format,
it's a safe thing to do.
It might be useful to look up the existing patents related to C#, if any,
and work a way to circumvent them while implementing the apps written in the
language, if possible.
If they're dumb enough, the solution could be as simple to detect as fully
compiling of C# code, or using other kind of bytecode.
I don't know how (or where) to look up the patents, but I can spend the time
studying them and trying to work out a way to not-break them. I've some
lawyers in the family that can be of use in this matter. It would be great
if we can push the community into safer waters while still supporting
programmers that develop in C#.