What's the case for Mono, Novell's open source implementation of the .NET Framework? I was surprised by the answers I heard from Joseph Hill, Mono product manager at Novell, in the course of a conversation at the TAO Beach in Las Vegas on Wednesday evening.

Here are three scenarios:

First, for ASP.NET customers that have made the decision to move to Linux-based web servers for whatever reason, the Mono ASP.NET implementation makes migration a piece of cake. The case for Mono ASP.NET over PHP is also compelling, Joseph believes, and a strong option for Linux-based services in search of a stronger platform. Either way, Microsoft keeps in touch with an existing customer or opens the way to a future relationship.

A second case can be built for Mono when a company is considering Windows CE. Here, says Joseph, the Mono implementation of .NET is more complete and is gained without sacrificing the advantages of the compact system.

Finally, there's Moonlight, the Mono team's implementation of Silverlight for Linux platforms. This new version of Mono adds WPF and XAML markup to the Mono stack and is bound to open up new opportunities for the project. But more importantly, as momentum builds for RIA applications in general and Silverlight in particular, it is inevitable that interest in Moonlight will grow. Some would say RIA applications are the viral driver Mono has lacked until now. More on that later...