A few months ago, Microsoft showed us "Surface", the table-top computer interface system. Priced at $10,000, and aimed at corporate and casino venues, it was "nice" but a bit much for regular folks.
The software that took care of the fancy graphics was based on Microsoft's Desktop engine called: "Silverlight", a .NET, C# application.
Though not proprietary, it too was out of reach of regular folks
Enter the Desktop Gnome and .NET/Mono wizard Miguel de Acaza.
Miguel was invited to the MIX Conference in France. The Microsoft/France Conference wanted Miguel to replay the Mix event he did in Vegas.
They suggested Miguel speak during the conference keynote and show a preview of moonlight if he already had something to show.
Well, Miguel didn't. So he invited fellow Mono programmers to a Hack-a-Thon to get something to show in Paris in 20+ days.
A quick Youtube of where Moonlight is now.
Moonlight is a perfect example of what can be accomplished in Open Source.
What Mono does for .NET, Moonlight does for Silverlight. An Open Source implementation of the wizardtry of Silverlight.
The Sources ARE downloadable here, if you would like a taste for the "Bleeding Edge".
Take note: Moonlight is still a work in progress.
Also see the Mono web Page.
I'll keep you posted on the progress of this important implementation.
Open SUSE should have an easy test/install soon. And I've heard of progress being made in my OS of choice Ubuntu.
