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Answer 1

+2 A:

I cannot say much about the market for Ubuntu. And since business is your primary concern, the programming language is, as you say yourself, secondary. I would say that in any business, choose the language and tools that solves the business problem most effectively. When release comes do your end users really care?

That said, if you can do it with Mono/C# I would encourage you to do so since you already have C# and .Net experience. But knowing a second language and development environment will only make you stronger.

Peter Lillevold 2010-05-26 11:17:29

I got issues with Mono, mainly in the aquisition stakes of who might be the owner, we have already seen Java go to the Larry camp, who is to say that Mono won't go the same way.

WeNeedAnswers 2010-05-26 11:27:31

I hear that Mono have been looking for Suitors.

WeNeedAnswers 2010-05-26 11:28:52

Answer 2

+4 A:

Both Python and Mono are installed by default on recent Ubuntu, and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Mono is removable since it is currently only used by a few desktop apps. Python is not reasonably removable as a lot of core scripts and GNOME tools depend on it. (The same is true of Perl.)

The popularity contest shows Python to be installed somewhat more often than Mono but both are widespread:

21    python-minimal  1584305 182870 1381149 20211    75 (Matthias Klose)   
577   mono-gac        1403534  25795 1323328 54159   252 (Debian Mono Group)

As for commercial potential, it's difficult to say without any idea what sector you might be working in. If you are targeting servers, especially running older versions of Ubuntu, Mono will be less widespread. If you are selling simple consumer desktop apps... well, it has yet to be demonstrated that there is really a market for this!

bobince 2010-05-26 11:38:03

Since the question is about the commercial perspective here, does it really matter how popular these technologies are? And what prevents mono to be included with the product?

Peter Lillevold 2010-05-26 11:59:17

It's a barometer of acceptance amongst Ubuntu users; without any more details as to who the target market are, that's about all we've got to go on. You wouldn't bundle Mono with an app (that'd be a recipe for nasty conflicts), but you could certainly mark it as a dependency. Would Ubuntu users consider the implementation language as a deal-breaker? I'd say in general no, though naturally there are a few zealots who consider Mono MS-spawned ‘evil’.

bobince 2010-05-26 12:06:09

I think that Microsoft have done a bang up job of .net and its a fine fine product, just a shame about the OS. Why on earth are people still stupid enough to pay for an OS when there are so many great free ones out there. Hence my move.

WeNeedAnswers 2010-05-26 12:55:07

Sad to hear people call others stupid only because they choose differently. Then why should we buy your product? Or perhaps it is free? Then why should we be stupid enough to support whatever you are making a living out of?

Peter Lillevold 2010-05-26 19:38:31

@Peter, The General public are ignorant to the fact that there are viable alternatives to paying cash. The whole branding marketing machine clouds the playing field, solutions are based on visibility on the open market as opposed to best in class. I provide solutions as a service, hey its a philosophical argument but one I feel I very much have the higher ground on :)

WeNeedAnswers 2010-05-27 10:38:10

The GP should not be paying for such done and done things as OS, but for the services that can be provided to suit their real needs.

WeNeedAnswers 2010-05-27 10:39:21

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