Cowboy X said: Cygwin makes porting to Windows relatively painless, actually. The Mono project will make it even easier.

The thing is, Cygwin is a door into Linux, not out of it. Every Linux app used under Cygwin is one more reason for Windows users to abandon ship. (Not to mention the gains in speed and reliability gained when running Linux apps natively.)

Mono/.Net seem to me to be neutral at best. Cross-platform coding means I'm less likely to be tied into Windows in the first place. As I see it, Palladium/TCPA and integrating DRM into the OS are Microsoft's only avenues to keeping their desktop monopoly, since they are both legally (and perhaps technically) impossible to implement under Linux.

Also, what blotter said.