Reading a local LUG mailing list here in Utah, I just came across an interesting thread about Microsoft developing either a text editor or a platform based on Emacs for .NET. The article in full can be found on ZDNet, with Doug Purdy doing the hiring for the team. No details are being divulged, so it's all speculation and rumors at this point. However, if Microsoft is building an editor, IDE or .NET platform on top of Emacs, I'm really interested what the final product will be, and what the licensing will be. Will this be a new language? Lisp.NET perhaps? Will this be an editor for the Visual Studio IDE? Is Windows finally realizing that they need a decent default text editor for their operating system?
Of course, with all the FUD they're throwing about with patent protection and what not, I can't help but ask the question: "Who's the innovator now?" Even further, will Doug Purdy's team contribute back to the Emacs project, or are they just going to leech the code taking advantage of the liberal license and not give a thought about the shoulders they'll be standing on? Call me crazy, but I'm guessing the latter.
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